Don't Wither, Don't Wilt
by Uchiha Chibi Hana
Summary: An OC's life is hard, and Hana Uchiha is no exception. Heck, with her brother gone, her friend being murdered, and her crush being framed for the murder... It's almost got her wishing that she had never been created.
1. Hello Everyone, I'm Screwed

QUICK CREDITS: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, along with the characters Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Orochimaru. Hana Uchiha, Hikaru, Hayasho, and even Fukama are MY characters. A few of these characters do belong to other people, and I have gotten their permission to use the characters as I please.

A/N: These stories are not about Naruto, but more about my original characters and my friend's original characters that we role-played in the past.

She watched anxiously as the two men whispered back and forth to each other. Oh, how she wished she could tune in on them. Nervousness made her lungs shrivel up like raisins, and she could feel her face get beet red. _Just give me an answer_, She whimpered inwardly as she swayed back and forth on her heels. The two men finally broke from their conversation, she couldn't read their faces, "Congratulations, Uchiha Hana, you've passed." Her sensei finally said with a warm smile, "Come grab a forehead protector, and you may be on your way." At this, Hana nodded and stepped forward.

Her hand moved toward the one that had caught her eye the second she had walked into the testing room. She let her fingers wrap around it, and brought it in front of her thoughtfully. Finally, her day had come, "Your brother would be proud of you, Hana-chan, I'm sure of it," Even though she knew her sensei meant well, the words made her throat tighten. When her brother had graduated about two years earlier, she had been there to give him a hug and congratulate him. For the next summer her brother was a rare sight, with all the missions and the training, and then he left altogether. How she loathed the idea of where he was now, and that it had stolen her brother from her.

"Thanks, Sensei," She murmured quietly, weakly, along with the strongest nod she could give before she left the room.

.xx

.xxx

If she had been a normal newly-made shinobi, she would have skipped back to her classroom to show off her forehead protector to her fellow classmates; the thing is that most people aren't normal anymore. She slid the old-fashioned door shut behind her, and picked up the book-bag that leaned against the wall, grabbing it by the handle and throwing it over one shoulder. At the moment, she was the only one who occupied the hallway. The noise of excited children and teens filtered through the classroom doors that dotted the hallway on either side. Everyone would be nearly done with their exams now, and then all the kids would meet their parents outside to tell them the great news. Then the family would leave for the fanciest restaurant they could afford, and celebrate, like a family.

She made her way home, passing through the front door and out into a crowd that was beginning to form. There were parents, proud-looking, and bragging to the person next to them about their child. Hana didn't want to listen to them at the moment, and pushed forward to swiftly pass around the crowd. Unfortunately, she was stopped when one of the parents threw a hand on her shoulder. The girl looked up at a young woman, her skin was fair and her eyes bright were, "Did my son pass?" Hana blinked her gray eyes at the question, and nodded.

"Akira-kun passed, Matoko-san." Hana spoke in a voice that reminded many people of her brother's. Akira's mother smiled at this, and patted her on the shoulder. For a second, Hana thought about staying, but she thought otherwise and set-off at a quicker pace. This wasn't a place that she belonged.

.xx

.xxx

Hana grew up with only three people to rely on. The first would be her older brother, Sasuke Uchiha. As far as she could remember, Sasuke rarely showed a large amount of emotion. Even though he acted like he didn't care most of them time, she thought they had been close. _Not close enough._ She bit her lower lip, and tightened her grip on the forehead protector. Everyone knew that he had left two years ago, for a bastard known as Orochimaru.

The second would be a person she could hardly remember. A boy, with jet black hair, pale fair skin, and sparkling blue eyes - another Uchiha, of a wealthy family. She was told that his name was Hayasho. Hana could only remember brief moments of playing tag in the park, or going on adventures to the other side of the compound. But, like the rest of the Uchiha's, he was killed during the massacre.

The third person that she thought she could rely on stopped speaking to her a year ago, after he had graduated from the academy himself. And boy, was she surprised to see his ass sitting on the porch to her house. Hana stopped abruptly and put on her emotionless face; she was still pissed at him for abandoning her, so she felt the need to show him that she was strong, "Why're you here, Hikaru?" Hana said as she stepped up onto the porch and leaned against one of the beams.

The blond-haired boy had looked up. He looked a lot tanner from the last time she'd seen him, and he wasn't as scrawny. Hikaru smiled a teethy grin, "Aw, Hana-chan, can't an old friend come to celebrate you graduating from the academy?" Hikaru stood up straight, and laughed. He was about a foot taller then her, and Hana felt the urge to kick him in the knee, "Anyways, I went ahead and got you your birthday present too, seeing as I won't be around much-"

"You were never around to begin with," Hana said quietly.

Hikaru hid a frown from the girl, "I know, I know!" He said energetically, "But I really think this will make up for my absence Hana-chan!"

"If it's a flower, I swear I'll-"

"It's not a flower. Just go check your bedroom!"

Hana stared at him for a moment with a questioning look on her face before letting out a _hmph_ and walking inside. She slid the door open to her bedroom, and stepped inside. Her gaze drifted around the room, and as she did so, she spotted a litter-box, a scratching post, a food bowl, and the most adorable kitten she'd ever seen. The little brown and white fluff-ball jumped up to her feet as she walked in. Its little tail wiggled and it let out a mew for attention. Hana put her hand on her hips and frowned.

Hikaru joined Hana in her bedroom with a teethy grin playing on his face, "C'mon where's the squealing, the hugging, the thank-youing?" Hikaru laughed, looking very pleased with himself. Hana narrowed her eyes.

"What makes you think I'll have time to take care of it now?" Hana growled.

Hikaru wapped his hand in the air, like it was no big deal, "Aw Hana-chan, being a genin is simple. All you have to do is spend a few hours a day earning some money, and then you have the rest of the day to do whatever you want!" Hikaru spoke, having been through a year of it already. Hana clenched her fists.

"So you're saying... I'll still have a lot of time hang around with my friends and everything?"

"Yep!"

"And maybe even visit them every now and then?"

"Yep."

"What about calling them, oh I don't know, say for a quick chat every once in a while?"

Hikaru frowned down at the girl, "...Hana, I'm sorry. I-"

Someone knocked on the door, "Who the hell did you invite over?" Hana growled angrily.

"Ah... Just Sakura... I just thought she'd want to celebrate." Hikaru said nervously.

"Why did you think that?"

"Hana, she cares about you..."

"Ha!" Hana spat, "She cares about _Sasuke!_ Why should she give a crap about his sister?!"

"Hana don't be like that... I'm sorry, I really am..." Hikaru spoke in a voice that surprised her. It sounded like he was begging, pleading. Hana sighed, letting the anger sweep out of her in one breath.

"Whatever... Go let her in. I'll go order some takeout."

.xx

.xxx

"C'mon Hana-chan! Pleeeease?" Hikaru was shaking her now, by the shoulder. Hana furrowed her brows in frustration. Sakura was giggling, which made Hana even more annoyed. Hana sighed loudly.

"Why should I have to try it on? It's just a stupid forehead protector." Hana muttered while crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

Hikaru grabbed her forehead protector and grinned his usual teethy grin, "Sadly Hana-chan, you don't have a choice!" Hana's eyes widened and she scrambled to move away. The boy literally leaped on her, forcing her down before sitting on her back. The poor girl made some struggling squeals, but Hikaru had her. It felt just like old times, Hana realized this. Even after a year of silence, they were still good friends. After a while, Hana stopped struggling, and let Hikaru play with her hair as he tried many different styles with her forehead protector.

Hana glanced over at Sakura only to notice the girl eying her oddly. The Uchiha's eyes narrowed slightly, "What?"

Sakura dropped her gaze, and Hana had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, "_He_ made the same expression when he was annoyed..."

Hana stayed quiet for a moment, "Sasuke has a name, you know." The girl said coolly.

"Right... Sorry, Hana-san."

"Don't be," Hana said and let out a groan, "Are you done yet Hikaru?" She asked, almost adding a pleading tone to her voice. Her chest was beginning to ache from the pressure. After another moment, Hikaru stood up, clapping his hands together like he had just accomplished something.

"Uh-huh! And you should look at yourself Hana-chan!" Hikaru exclaimed. Hana stood up and touched her forehead protector lightly. She had worn her brother's forehead protector once, but she had put it on her forehead. The way Hikaru had put it, felt different. Hana walked to the mirror, which had been placed in the hallway years ago.

"I look like Sakura," Hana noted with very little emotion in her voice. She didn't necessarily mind her forehead protector being in the same position as Sakura's, it just felt a bit odd. Hikaru walked up behind her with a smile so wide that you couldn't see his eyes they were so scrunched up.

"You look cute, Hana-chan!" He laughed, and patted her head affectionately. Hana frowned.

"Cute?" Hana spoke slowly, and sounded almost as if she were confused. No one had ever called her cute.

"Yep!"

Hana thought for a long moment, "...Okay. I'll keep it like this then."

.xx

.xxx

The two didn't stay long after that. Sakura had night shift at the hospital, and Hikaru had a mission in the morning. He said he'd visit her next week, when he returned from the mission, so she could tell him about her teammates. It seemed fair enough, she guessed.

She spent the next week training on her own, and bonding with her kitten, which she had named Fukama, since it meant 'bad time.' But finally, the day came, a week later - she would finally meet her new team.

Hana had to say she was quite nervous. _Brother, were you ever this nervous?_ She closed her eyes, and rested her head against the door that led to the room where her team, Team 5, was supposed to meet. Oh, well, It was now or never. The girl put on a brave face, and slid the door open.

Inside were three people who had already been waiting. One was a girl about her age - she hadn't seen her before, so she guessed she was from a different class - she had stunning white hair that was brought up in a ponytail, and even more stunning violet eyes, and to top it all off, she had lovely tan skin that would make any girl jealous.

In one corner was a Hyuga who had been in her class for the past year. They had never really talked, but he was always the class trouble-maker. It surprised her that he even passed, and disappointed her that he'd be on her team.

Leaning against the blackboard was a woman. She had most of her oily black hair kept in a cap on which her forehead protector was attached to. The rest of it was sticking out to the sides. She looked kind enough, even though she had an annoyed look on her face.

"Next time, Uchiha Hana," Her sensei snapped suddenly, "Don't be late."

A/N: Thank you for reading the very first chapter to my very first fanfictiony story. 3


	2. Not Your Ordinary Test

**A/N:** Welcome to the second chapter of Don't Wither, Don't Wilt. I don't have much to say for this chapter, enjoy.  
**  
QUICK CREDITS:** Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake, along with the series belong to Naruto. Hana Uchiha is MY character, along with Hikaru and Niigata. Aibara belongs to midnight6606. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way.  
_**  
ON WITH THE STORY!**_

"Okay," The sensei spoke, "We can introduce ourselves now." The greasy-haired female as she leaned back against the tree trunk. Her bored brown eyes glanced between the three genin, who had placed themselves on nearby branches. Hana noted that the Hyuga looked very uncomfortable in his spot, which Hana saw was right next to the white-haired girl. _Maybe he's gay? _The girl thought before glancing back at her sensei.

"Oi!" The Hyuga yelled suddenly, Hana didn't bother glancing back over, but instead repositioned herself on the branch while the boy complained, "Why did you pick a freaking tree to hold a team meeting in?" His voice was a tad to high to match his tall, slightly-built body - but was not nearly as puberty-stricken as Naruto's voice had been when she first met him - Hana noted.

Her sensei shifted her footing before answering, "Oh, I don't know," She spoke in a lazy voice, "It just feels a bit more... like home," The Hyuga rolled his eyes at this answer.

Her sensei chuckled, and continued, "Now for the introductions, I'll start them off," The woman spoke, before clearing her throat, "My name is Niigata, Akeko. I've been a jounin for about three years now, and hopefully, you guys will be my first team." Hana could easily feel the tension that ran past her new teammates.

"Hopefully?" The white-haired girl spoke in a quiet and questioning voice.

Niigata-sensei grinned, and shook her head, "Nothing to worry about, dear," She laughed, but it sounded fake when she cut it off briskly. Her dark brown eyes moved swiftly to the Hyuga, "You, boy, introduce yourself."

"What happened to lady's first?" The boy replied only to receive a cold glare from their sensei. He shivered, "Okay, okay," He said and crossed his arms and closed his eyes before speaking, "The name's Hyuga, Ringo. I'm the youngest of to many siblings to count, and I hate just about everyone and everything. There, happy?"

The young girls found this amusing, both of them giggling in mild-harmony. The tanned girl threw up her arm next, and Hana could see a wild excitement in her wicked violet eyes, "Okinawa, Aibara's my name!" She shouted confidently. Akeko raised a brow at her excitement while the girl went on, "I'm originally from the River Country, but my parents sent me here five years ago so I could get better training!" The girl finished with a wide smile, and finally put her arm down.

After a second, she found both the wicked eyes of Aibara, and the amazing eyes of Ringo on her. Hana found herself having to choke out her first few words. She hated introducing herself, "My name is Uchiha, Hana. Uhm... There isn't much to say-"

"Isn't much to say!?" Ringo barked suddenly. Hana looked up at the Hyuga, but his brows were furrowed angrily, "My big bro's right, you Uchiha's are all the same: modest, cocky, annoying, and you think you're better than everyone else!" The Hyuga ended with a hmph.

Hana didn't show any signs of hurt against these words. Ringo had never seemed to like her at school, he always shot her glares when they were partnered up together. The girl continued, "There isn't much to say-... Except that some people call me Chibi, since I stopped growing at the age of nine..." Hana shrugged and leaned back.

Aibara laughed at this little packet of information, "You stopped growing when you were nine? Damn, I'm still growing!" Aibara giggled again. Ringo seemed like he couldn't care less. Hana shrugged again, and then looked to Niigata-sensei for further instructions.

"Ah-okay then," Niigata said quickly. She had kicked herself off of the tree and was rummaging through her pockets. After a moment, she pulled out a pouch that jingled faintly with the sound of coins. Ringo's eyes widened a fraction when he heard the money, making Aibara giggle again. Niigata stared at the pouch for a moment, before tossing it Hana's way.

The girl caught the pouch and stared at it for a second, "Sensei..?"

"Use that to get yourselves some lunch," Their sensei spoke with a grin, and moved her hands together, "You are all to meet on the sixth training ground tomorrow at noon, understood?" She said as she moved her dark gaze over the three of them.

"Hai, Sensei!" The three genin spoke in unison, just before their sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke.

.xx

.xxx

"How much do we got in there?" Ringo kept peaking over the Uchiha's shoulder as she went through the money carefully. Even though the tiny girl kept trying to shrug him off, Ringo kept trying to peak at the stash of yen in the pouch, "Is that a bill for 5000 yen!?" Ringo peaked a glance at the numerous amount of bills. Hana sighed.

"Yeah, what about it?" Hana grumbled. She suddenly found herself ducking, as Ringo grabbed for the money pouch quickly. Admist the rough housing between the two, Ringo snatched the bag of money and held it up high.

He laughed, "I say, we go to the most expensive restaurant in the village, get fat, and then make Sensei cry when she sees that all her money is gone!" Ringo said, and laughed again as Hana attempted to jump for the money pouch, "I really feel sorry for you Chibi-" Ringo choked out a few laughing sounds as Hana tickled him briefly.

She grabbed the money pouch admist his laughing and moved on down the path to join Aibara again, "And I really feel sorry for you, Ringo-san, I'd hate to be ticklish," Hana giggled victoriously and glanced up at Aibara. She hated that the white-haired girl wasn't much shorter then Ringo, "I'm thinking ramen." Hana said, and moved her gaze to Ichiraku's ramen shop.

Aibara nodded, "Ramen sounds good right about now, and it's cheap!" She said happily, and literally jumped into the shop. Hana followed her, easily ducking under the flaps, and Ringo followed slowly behind her.

.xx

.xxx

"So you're not ticklish?" Ringo asked after they had been served their bowls of ramen. Hana shook her head no, "Not even one bit? Like even on your feet?" He took a long slurp of his noodles and looked at Hana again.

"Not even on my feet. I tend to kick people when they touch my feet," They fell into an awkward silence after that, with only the sound of slurping filling the ramen shop.

It surprised both Hana and Ringo when Aibara struck up the next conversation. They had forgotten how quiet she could be, "What do you think Niigata-sensei wants us to do tomorrow?" The girl spoke, and grabbed another mouthful of noodles. Ringo shrugged, but Hana thought for a second.

"Maybe we have a mission?" Hana said in an unsure voice. Ringo glanced at the raven-haired girl.

"Didn't that stupid brother of your's ever tell you about this crap?" Ringo spoke unkindly. Hana narrowed her eyes.

"No. Did your stupid siblings ever tell you?" Hana tried to mock Ringo's voice, "You have to many to count. One of them _must _have told you something."

Ringo sighed and leaned back, "They all moved out the second they graduated," Ringo said, "We actually celebrated in their new house when they graduated - except, they were all about sixteen or seventeen when they graduated, and I'm only twelve - and after that we just didn't hear from them," That seemed to answer Hana's and Aibara's next question.

Hana thought through the silence that came over them again, and giggled, "Well, if Uzumaki-kun managed to survive his first day with the strictest sensei around, whatever Niigata-sensei has in store for us shouldn't be to hard." Hana said, and added a little giggle. Aibara and Ringo nodded in agreement after a while, and Hana thought she saw humor in the Hyuga's pale eyes.

.xx

.xxx

"So you have a creepy greasy sensei?"

"Yep. Niigata-sensei is actually pretty cool."

"And a sexy white-haired girl?"

"Yeeah.. I guess you could put it that way.."

"What was the color of her eyes again?"

"Violet."

Hikaru looked confused.

"Purple."

"Oh."

"Idiot..."

"And then you have a Hyuga right?"

"Mhm, and he's such a pain in the ass!" Hana breathed and leaned against the porch which led into her house. After Hana had woken up from a coma after the massacre, Sasuke and her had moved to one of the few undamaged houses near the front of the Uchiha compound. Hana never knew if Sasuke was happy to be living on their land again, but she guessed he wasn't when he basically moved into another apartment after he'd graduated.

Hikaru didn't say anything, and glanced his glorious blue eyes up to the sky, "It's about noon, don't you have to leave?" He said. Hana noticed his voice wasn't urging, and smiled.

"Yeah, probably," She leaned over and hugged her best friend quick before standing up. Hana was wearing her ninja wear that Sakura had helped her pick out over past week. A loose white shirt draped over her front flat side, and was tied up twice - one around the neck, and again around the back. She wore red shorts under that, Sakura said they would match her newly-bought red headband, and would bring out her pale skin tone. Hana had gone along with it, just to get away from the girly-girl, "See you, Hikaru. Do you think you can visit again next week?" Hana asked hopefully. She missed her old friend, no matter how angry she had been at him.

Hikaru shrugged, "Not sure, but I'll definitely call tomorrow night!" He said with a teethy grin. That confidence never let her down before, Hana smiled and nodded, and was off in a flash.

Hikaru frowned after his friend, and got up slowly after she left, "Poor Hana, she doesn't know what she's in for."

.xx

.xxx

"Your assignment will be..." Niigata-sensei clapped her hands together, and nine boulders literally molded themselves from thin air. The boulders were about her height, and ranged in shapes, "To move these boulders across the finish, 50 meters away," She said, with a sly grin.

Ringo chuckled, "Looks easy enough."

Niigata-sensei grinned again, "The first one to get their three boulders across the finish line passes, the other two fail, and get sent back to the academy." Silence. Hana glanced over at her teammates, and saw that their eyes were wide as well. Aibara looked like she could cry any second, the poor thing.

"B-But, that can't be right..." Hana stuttered and clenched her fist, "How is- was- my brother in a team of three then?!" The Uchiha girl yelled suddenly. Ringo and Aibara stayed silent. Niigata-sensei smiled.

"Simple. It's a secret!" Niigata laughed, a cruel pitch touched her voice before she stopped suddenly, "Begin! You have until the sun sets!"

Ringo immediately charged for the first boulder, and hit it with a loud thud. The boulder moved a few inches, despite all the effort Ringo put into it. Hana shuddered, she had never been strong physically, everyone told her she'd be a master at mental techniques, like genjutsu and ninjutsu. She hadn't been prepared for this.

Aibara was already at her station, working just as hard as Ringo. Hana saw the two ton boulder move over its rounded sides, and then slap on one of its flatter sides. This was impossible.

Hana sighed, and moved to her station and started on her first boulder. It was the roundest one, and moved the easiest, but it was still a difficult activity.

The day wore on, and she could feel the sweat dripping from her as if it was raining. Hana loathed the sun now, and the brilliant day this was supposed to be.

Ringo was the first to get a boulder across the finish line about 50 meters away. He had taken off his shirt near the beginning, and now his body glistened with sweat. Hana blushed, this was no time to be staring at a boy. He caught her gaze though, with those strikingly pale eyes, and grinned wickedly. She was in last place, and moving at a suffering slow pace. He was glad to see an Uchiha fail, and Hana felt anger pulse through her. She pushed her first over the finish line about an hour after Ringo, and about a half hour after Aibara had pushed her first over.

Hana felt her knees give way. Why couldn't she have been born with a strong body like her brother's? Why was she given this frail body? Hana found herself puking up her last meal at the base of one of the rocks before managing to get up slowly.

Ringo was about half-way to the finish line, and Aibara was struggling at a quarter of a way there. Hana sighed, and closed her eyes. _Brother, I'm sorry. _She felt her throat tighten, _I just can't pass... _But she wouldn't let her team down, or Aibara down at least. Ringo could fail with her, for all she cared. Hana moved over to Aibara's boulder and started helping her.

Aibara glanced over, her violet eyes wide. Her thin summer clothes were caked to her body by sweat, and her violet eyes were sparking with determination, "You'll fail if you help me!" Aibara yelled through her effort to push the boulder forward. Hana coughed roughly, her weak heart was beating so fast that it hurt.

"I would have failed anyways, but let's not let Hyuga-kun win," Hana grunted. Aibara stared at her a moment, and nodded, before returning her focus to the boulder.

The sun was nearly set by the time Ringo was nearing the finish line with his final boulder. He was terribly slow though, while the girl's were still working up a steady pace. It seemed it would be a close race, but to their avail, time had run out, "Okay that's it! Your time's run out!" Niigata-sensei yelled.

Ringo yelled out in frustration. Hana and Aibara glanced over to see he was merely inches away from the finish line. They were only a couple of feet. Niigata walked over to the collapsed teens with her hands on her hips, "You were all very close," She said thoughtfully.

Hana wiped the sweat out of her eyes. She probably looked like she was crying, "Will the closest person pass then?" The girl asked slowly. Niigata-sensei looked like she was thinking, and finally shook her head.

"No."

"So we all fail?" Ringo asked with a worried tone to his voice.

"No," The three of them looked up, "You can start over tomorrow, considering you guys were so close." Ringo and Aibara looked confident, Hana sighed and stood up after a moment.

"Aibara?" Hana said weakly. The white-haired girl looked up, "Wanna go buy some ice cream at some place? I'm wiped." There was a little smile on Hana's face, but her eyes said otherwise. Aibara smiled and nodded, before managing to stand up weakly.

The two girls left the training grounds, leaving Ringo with Niigata-sensei.

.xx

.xxx

"Hana-chan, there's still a chance that you could pass tomorrow," Sakura said in a poor effort to cheer the girl up. Hana and Aibara had run into Sakura and Kakashi-sensei after they had cleaned up and went out for something cold to eat. Hana shook her head.

"You don't get it," Hana said weakly. She had not yet recovered from her fatigue, and her voice was shaky, "I didn't get the nice, strong genes that my brother's got. I wasn't made to push boulders around, my body's to weak. I can barely conjure up a fire jutsu as it is. My lungs and heart are to weak, they've always been," Hana could feel the distress eating away at her, as she sipped her slushy.

Kakashi glanced up from his book for the first time that evening, "You'd be surprised what one person can do," Hana laughed at this.

"You'd be surprised how weak one person can be."

It wasn't like Hana to talk back to her sensei's, but she was to stressed out to give a damn. Aibara picked at her slushy quietly, and sighed, "To bad we weren't just all one person, that sounds so much easier."

Kakashi and Sakura fell quiet, and Hana grew suspicious on their part. But now that she thought about it, a jolt of realization ran through her. She moved over and grabbed her teammate into a quick hug, "Aibara! You're a genius!"

Aibara looked shock at this hug, her violet eyes were widened a fraction, "I am?"

Sakura smiled, and Kakashi hid his face behind the book again, "They finally got it," he said.

QUICK BIO: Hana Chibi Uchiha  
Birthday: July 13  
Element: Fire. No lightning sadly.  
Family: Sasuke Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha are her brothers, but only in the story, of course.  
Appearance: Black hair, pale skin, silvery gray eyes. Like an Uchiha.  
Clothing: Loose white shirt, no back to it, tied around the neck and waist. Along with red shorts, and headband.  
Guess What?: Hana Uchiha is my first original character. I made her when I was around nine or ten years old ( I'm 14 now ), and she never looked like this. She used to have bright blue hair and blue eyes, very peachy skin, a basically sakura's dress in blue. This girl went through names like Shishoukou ( made up rubbish at first ) to Iceblink ( cause of a book about wolves ) to Chihiro, then to Kajihana, and then finally down to Hana. She gained the middle/nickname of Chibi when I sadly stopped growing around the age of 11 - 12, and I'm under five feet, a legal midget. So sad. v.v


	3. Shut Up, Songbird

**QUICK CREDITS:** Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Tsunade, along with the series, belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Hana Uchiha is MY character, along with Hikaru and Niigata. Aibara and "Songbird" belong to midnight6606. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way.

Don't Wither, Don't Wilt ... chapter 3 - Shut Up, Songbird.

**A/N:** Enjoy the predictable conclusion to their first assignment.

----on with the story. xxxxx3!

"It's easy, Ringo-kun!" Hana whispered to him excitedly. These girls were so silly, and he knew just how to disappoint them. He glanced his pale eyes to the Uchiha brat, and saw how excited she was. Her amazing silver eyes were sparkling, and she was smiling.

Aibara giggled to the other side of him. He hated the way she always giggled, it was so annoying, "And we'll all pass!" White Hair Wonder finished, and the two girls stood back, looking pleased with themselves. Well, he'd take no part in this. Ringo stood up and instantly began walking away.

"Yeah right, no deal," He said simply, and immediately headed for the training grounds. It was nearly noon, and he didn't want to be late. Why was he not surprised to see little miss Uchiha stop him? Her hand grabbed him by the shoulder, and stopped him with a force he didn't think could come from the shrimp. He let his pale eyes linger down to the Uchiha. She looked pissed - joy.

"Excuse me? You think I'll let you just walk off?" Hana growled, her silver eyes held a wild anger. If she hadn't been so tiny, he might have been afraid. Ringo shrugged her off and took a few more steps.

"You're excused, and no, I didn't think that," Ringo spoke. Hana Uchiha did the unpredictable. If Ringo had known that she would resort to violence, he would have chosen his words more carefully. A leg was brought forcefully against the back of his knees, and he found himself flipped backward, in the dirt. Hana slammed a foot down on his chest, and glared at him.

"Do you know what the three of us are?" Hana spat at him angrily. Ringo had returned the unkind glare, but did not speak. She went on, "We're a team, and we're going to stick together, whether you give a rat's ass or not." Ringo tried to heave himself back up, but she just forced her foot down more, "You've made Aibara cry too, you bastard. Do you know how much effort she's put in here, just to stay in Konoha!" Hana yelled. They were talking about a sleepover earlier, Ringo remembered, they must've talked alot, and he guessed this had been one of the topics, "The second she fails, she goes back to her country as a failure! Do you really want to let that happen!?" Hana fell quiet after that. She was breathing heavily after all the yelling, stupid girl. The sound of sobbing filled the air, Ringo felt a pang of guilt, but kept his cool.

Hana took a deep breath, and stepped back. Ringo stared at her for a moment, and blinked in confusion when the girl held a hand out suddenly. The Hyuga took it, and got himself up into a sitting position easily. His chest hurt, and he guessed he'd have a bruise their later. He sighed, "You remember what she said, only one person passes, the other fails," Ringo muttered in a low voice, "If I help you, that means we all fail."

Hana shrugged, "Or it means we all pass," Her voice was soft now, Ringo noted. He was surprised to see Hana kneel down next to him, and place a hand on his shoulder sheepishly, "Come on Ringo-kun, all you have to do is help us, and we might all pass," Ringo stared at her as she spoke, but shook his head.

"Might," He echoed, "Or I could just do my share, finish, and pass on my own, for sure," Ringo spoke. Hana laughed at this, and sat back on her bottom.

"After yesterday, you really think you have the same amount of energy? It'll be harder today, for all of us. The only way we could possibly get three across is if we worked together," Hana spoke quietly. Aibara had finished her sob-fest, and had walked over to join them on the ground.

Ringo growled to himself, she was right. His muscles throbbed whenever he moved them the wrong way, "Well then just come over and help me on my station," He hissed through his teeth. Hana shook her head.

"Nope, I need you to come over to mine and Aibara's station," Hana spoke calmly.

"Why?"

"Well my theory is," Hana began. Ringo rolled his eyes, "That we're being judged on teamwork. It's not hard to tell that you really don't want to work with us - but if you went out of your way to work with us, well there'd be no question about it," The raven-haired girl explained with a smile.

Ringo glanced between the two girls once, and sighed, "So how are we going to do this again?"

.xx

.xxx

His crimson gaze washed over his surroundings. About fifty people lay around him, all covered in wounds, and moaning with pain. He sheathed his blade cautiously, as he checked once again for anyone who could still fight. Sharingon faded from his eyes slowly before he turned. The boy stepped off of the training field and to his teacher.

"They're all still alive Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said with a touch of disappointment scraping his voice, "You're to soft," Sasuke ignored him as he stepped past him. He had no time for the lecture on merciless, it was starting to get old.

Sasuke stopped as he neared the institute where future test subjects were kept. He tilted his head one way, as if he were trying to hear something. Sure enough, that girl was singing again:

"_Above the clouds where dusk approaches_

_The hawk that is always flying by itself_

_Is certainly sad, right?_

_Within the wind where voices ceased_

_Its wings that grasp the sky_

_Cannot rest_

_What will I compare my heart to?_

_This heart that is like the hawk_

_What will I compare my heart to?_

_The sorrow that seems to dance in the sky_

_In the rocks shade where rain drizzles_

_The flowers that are always blooming so small_

_Are certainly in pain, right?_

_Within the rain where their colors grew hazy_

_There isn't a hand that adores_

_The light-pink petals_

_What will I compare my heart to?_

_This heart that is like the flowers_

_What will I compare my heart to?_

_The pain beaten upon by the rain_

_On the wilderness trail where not a soul exists_

_You who are walking along side me_

_Are certainly sad, right?_

_We are people who go together_

_Through the prairie where insects drone_

_But we ceased to talk_

_What will I compare my heart to?_

_This heart of going by myself_

_What will I compare my heart to?_

_The loneliness of being all by myself_."

Sasuke waited until she had stopped, and sighed. For the past five days, since she had been brought in, she wouldn't stop singing. He had listened for her, waiting to hear her sing. It seemed that every time the sun reached the tiny windows atop the cement building, that she would sing. Sasuke clenched his fists, it was annoying.

The Uchiha veered from his regular path, and toward the institute. He had never been in here, and if the girl hadn't still been singing, he would have gotten lost. The door leading to the cells was made out of cement, and difficult to open, but he managed it anyways.

There was a rush of whispers running through the near-pitch black hallway. The sound of dripping water echoed off the walls, and the air smelled stale. Still, this girl sang, while the others stayed quiet. He walked to her cell slowly, and turned toward the girl.

The sun that showed through only once a day lit up her cell completely. He could see the blood on the walls around her, though he doubted it was her's. The girl looked young, and he thought of his sister immediately. He thought briefly of how she might look now, after nearly two years, but did not stay on this thought for to long. Her body didn't match the age her face suggested, so he guessed that she'd be around his age. Her hair was messy, but a firm and warm brown color, along with her eyes.

She had stopped singing, and stared at him now. The girl made no signs that she would speak, but he saw her shift, as if to get a better view. The corner of his lips twitched with an idea, and he moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. She stopped moving, but showed no fear. Sasuke tilted his head.

"What do you think of your own voice, Songbird?" Sasuke asked with a cold voice.

"Her voice heals!" One man spoke suddenly. He seemed more confident then a normal test subject should sound.

Another person, this time a scratchy-voiced kid spoke, "It brings my hope that I'll go home one day!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the girl. What would Orochimaru think of this?

"Well?" Sasuke asked again.

The girl smiled, and leaned forward, "It's my escape from this hell," She whispered quietly, though the whole cell could hear it echo.

Sasuke unsheathed his blade, and brought it to the girls neck suddenly. She did not move as the blade brushed her fair skin, but merely stared at him, "Well it's making my ears bleed," Sasuke hissed through his teeth, "So if you could kindly realize that there is no escape from hell, I would very much appreciate that." There was absolute silence after he spoke, and he sheathed his blade once more.

He stepped back, turned, and made his way for the door, closing it behind him. Sasuke walked out of the institute, and back toward his quarters. But he stopped again, and heard her repeating an earlier verse:

"..._On the wilderness trail where not a soul exists_

_You who are walking along side me_

_Are certainly sad, right?_

_We are people who go together_

_Through the prairie where insects drone_

_But we ceased to talk_..."

Sasuke clenched his fists, and continued to walk.

.xx

.xxx

"That's it!" Aibara cried victoriously, and collapsed at the base of the large boulder. Hana plopped herself down right next to her. Ringo just fell backwards, and lied on his back with a big sigh. Hana laughed slightly. They had managed to bring three boulders across the finish line, together.

The team looked up at their sensei, who had walked up to them swiftly. Her face was emotionless, and her arms were crossed around her chest. She didn't look to happy, and Hana found her heart miss a beat. What if they didn't pass?

"Just tell us!" Ringo barked with as much volume as he could muster up. Hana couldn't blame him for being impatient.

She smiled thoughtfully, after a moment, and spoke, "You all fail," Niigata spoke. Aibara grabbed Hana's hand at that moment, along with Ringo's. The Hyuga looked shocked, and then shot a glare at Hana.

"Why?" Hana choked out. Her voice was barely audible. The jounin turned her cold gaze on Hana, and stared at her without speaking, "Niigata-sensei, why!?"

Niigata shook her head, "Hana Uchiha, you gave up on the first day, you failed there and then," She snapped. Hana winced at this, because she knew it was true, "Yes, you're _theory_ was correct. Maybe if you had thought of it earlier, I would have passed all of you. Shinobi must think on your feet, you won't always have another twenty-four hours to change your strategy," Hana felt her throat tighten. What a failure she had turned out to be.

"Ringo Hyuga, you hesitated to much," Niigata turned on the boy, who wouldn't meet her gaze, "The only reason you worked with the girls today was because it was the only possible way you could pass. I know how much you dislike the Uchiha. How can I trust you'd go out of your way to help her, even if it didn't benefit yourself?" Ringo opened his mouth to say something, but sensei was already speaking to Aibara.

"Stop your balling!" Niigata yelled, making the girl flinch, "You were one of the brightest and strongest kids of your class, it's your fault you didn't speak up earlier! I could tell you had some plans, but you didn't voice them," Aibara shuddered at these words. Hana and Ringo glanced at each other, and then at Aibara.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?"

Aibara was the one to speak, which surprised Hana, "We know now, Sensei!" Niigata shook her head as the girl spoke, "We know we need to work together now! We won't make the mistake again! Just please pass us!"

"Okinawa, Aibara, you've failed. It's been decided-"

"No, it hasn't been decided, Niigata, Akeko," The voice sounded familiar, in some ways, though Hana couldn't put a finger on it. But it was obvious when a big-chested blond had stepped out from the nearby brush.

"Mi'Lady!" Niigata said with surprise. The three genin glanced at each other with a look of confusion touching their face. Why was the Hokage here?

"Niigata-san, this is very cruel of you," Tsunade glanced around, "You give them two days for this assignment, and they do what you ask them to do," She put her hands on her hip, and shot a questioning gaze at the jounin, "Why didn't you pass them?"

"They should have accomplished them on the first day-"

"Then why didn't you fail them then?"

Niigata was silent on this. Tsunade turned to the three genin and smiled.

"Congratulations, Squad 5, you've passed!"

Hana found Aibara's arms around her. The Uchiha girl laughed, and hugged back excitedly. Ringo reared up behind him, and wrapped his arms around both of them, "You're just lucky this is worth a group hug!" Ringo laughed. Hana smiled, and took note to enjoy this moment with her team.

* * *

**A/N**: The lyrics above belong to Aoi Teshima.

**QUICK BIO:** Ringo Hyuga

**Birthday:** December 8

**Element:** Wind

**Family:** Honestly, to many to count.

**Appearance:** Shoulder-length shaggy dark brown hair and Hyuga eyes. He's got some very sexy muscles on him, and has a slight tan.

**Clothing:** A dark gray - black tank, with a fishnet t-shirt wears regular shinobi pants, that you see most Chuunin wearing.

**Guess What?:** Ringo isn't my character, he's actually my friend Sunset's character. His name doesn't actually mean "apple", according to Sunnyboo, it can also mean "peace be with you" - and since he originally was an Akatsuki member, she thought it was a pretty funny name. In the original plot, Hana had the five-tailed demon in her, and these two actually met when Ringo captured Hana. Aibara, Hana, and Ringo were never teammates, until the original owner of the forum we role-played all of this on decided to start the plot over, and we got to change some things. This is when Aibara, "Songbird" and Hikaru came into the picture. Hana's original teammates used to be Akira ( mentioned in chapter 1 ) and a handsome boy named Kagamori ( who was RPed by our forum's original owner, but she left ages ago... so... ).


	4. A Year Goes By

**QUICK CREDITS:** Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Kakashi Hatake, along with the series, belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Hana Uchiha is MY character, along with Hikaru and Niigata. Aibara belongs to midnight6606. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way.

Don't Wither, Don't Wilt ... chapter 4 - A Year Goes By.

**A/N:** This is just a narration of what happens over the next year, so sorry it's super short!

----on with the story. xxxxx3!

To Akeko Niigata's disappointment, she went on to mentor the three genin to becoming better shinobi. They went on multiple D-Rank missions the days afterward, and they, time and time again, proved that they could work together. Hana quickly considered Aibara one of her best friends, a term she had only used once before, for Hikaru. Ringo was also becoming a good friend, though the fact that she was short, and an Uchiha, gave multiple reasons for Ringo to tease her. Sakura even suggested that it was because he liked her, but she doubted that.

Near mid July, the Chuunin Exams came, and this time they were being held in the Lightning Country. None of them had ever been that far north, but it was a nice visit, while it lasted.

At the end of the first round, they were given a test. It wasn't to difficult for Hana, because she had helped her brother study most of this stuff two years earlier. But at the end of the test, they were given the option to either take the chance on getting a near-perfect score to pass, and possibly fail and loose their status as Genin, for good, or leave and take the test next year.

Hana and Ringo had both seen how fearful Aibara looked, and decided silently to raise their hands. They wouldn't put Aibara through this, they didn't even want to take the chance. On the way back home, Hana and Ringo received a lecture from their sensei, who was not really happy with their decision. The two didn't care though, they merely sucked it up and nodded when necessary.

When they returned, they had all decided to go to Hana's house for the night. Aibara had already asked, and Ringo didn't want to hear his parents complaining about his failure at the Chuunin exams. Hana didn't know they had planned this, and was welcomed home by Kakashi, Sakura, and Hikaru - it was a surprise thirteenth birthday party, and she was surprised.

Hana spent that night enjoying her gifts: A new outfit from Sakura, this time a red top and white shorts. A book series from Kakashi, one she had been hoping to get. Four glass roses from Hikaru, which she hugged him for. Five Cd's from the boy band that Hana had been obsessing over from Aibara, she also hugged her for this. Ringo gave her a camera that took both film and digital pictures, and she wondered why he spent so much money on this and then hugged him.

What surprised her was the black katana lying on her bed, in a lovely sheath. It was fit for her small size, and had flowers engraved on the hilt, along with an Uchiha crescent in the midst of the flowers. There was a note on top of it, it said: Her name is Hissori Ryuu, or Quiet Kill. I had it made for you, since this would be around the time for the Chuunin Exams. Use it in the future, you'll find her quite useful. Happy Birthday, Baby Sister.

And indeed she did. After that, the team spent more of their time on C-Rank missions. Not many of them involved fighting, but there were the occasional drunkards that kept harassing ladies at night, and someone had to take care of them.

This would continue on for the next year. Ringo, Hana, and Aibara found their love for each other growing into a strong friendship, alongside their increasing skill. Niigata was a harsh sensei, and didn't think their friendship was true, but only a way to convince her that they could work together. But as harsh and strict as she may be, she did a good job at training them. She wouldn't hold back during spars, and rarely helped during the more dangerous C-Rank missions.

By the time of Aibara's thirteenth birthday, on November 10th, she was giving Niigata-sensei a hard time during training. Aibara received a gift of jutsu scrolls from her parents that year, a hug from Hana along with a lucky charm, new kunai knives from Ringo along with a hug that Hana made him give her, and from Niigata-sensei, she helped her figure out her element - which happened to be water - and started teaching her water jutsu.

Suddenly, sensei was teaching the three genin all of these jutsu according to their elements. Along side the suiton or water typed moves Aibara was learning, Ringo was learning futon or wind typed moves, and Hana was learning some well-needed katon or fire typed moves. Niigata-sensei told the Uchiha that someday soon, she'd try teaching her some raiton, or lightning typed moves.

By the time winter rolled around, temperatures had become cool in Konoha. It didn't snow here often, but it was cold enough as it was. Ringo's fourteenth birthday showed up, on December 8th, and he received at least twenty cards from his siblings and relatives. Aibara gave him a bear hug and some new shuriken, while Hana gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek - which made him blush madly, like the girls had been hoping - along with a specially made dagger, which he seemed very pleased to get.

It was passing by to quickly, Hana noted when the team had all slept over at her house that night. It was snowing for once, even though it all melted when it hit the ground. They were all snuggled under a blanket, with hot chocolate in hand, and had decided to rent old samurai movies. They spent that night watching the movies, until Aibara had fallen asleep with her arms around Hana. The two laughed at this, and turned the television off. Neither of them complained when they spent the next few hours talking. They decided to talk to Niigata about the winter exams tomorrow. When Hana finally fell asleep, she leaned her head against Ringo's shoulder. A few months ago, Ringo would have pushed her off, but now he just smiled and fell asleep with an arm around both of the girl's shoulder, and his cheek leaning against Hana's silky black hair.

The next day Ringo and Hana were disappointed. Their sensei refused to let them enter the next Chuunin Exams, which were supposed to be held in Suna that year, saying neither of them were ready. They had guessed this much. Later that day, Aibara promised that she would be ready by the next summer exams, and Ringo said not to worry about it.

Winter passed quickly. Squad 5 spent most of their time training and doing missions, along with sleeping over at Hana's house. Ringo said he couldn't wait until he moved out, because he hated living with his parents. And until Aibara's parents moved to Konoha, she didn't really have much of a home. Hana enjoyed having her friends over, Hikaru even joined them sometimes. Sometimes it even felt like she had a family around her, and she enjoyed that feeling.

Spring came, to Hana's delight, but left so quickly. It would be a hot summer this year, she could tell already. By May, Konoha was getting prepared for the Chuunin Exams. Since this would have been the first time Konoha had hosted the Chuunin Exams since the Third's death, this would be a big deal.

This time, Hana, Ringo, and Aibara wouldn't take no for an answer. They'd enter the Chuunin Exams, along side Hikaru's team who would be entering for the first time. It was their time to shine, and they couldn't wait.

.xx

.xxx

It had been two and a half years since he had been in Konoha. How he loved this town, and the people in it. Already, he had to test his abilities to Kakashi-sensei again, and he had 'till the afternoon to prepare. Well, he had had some ramen, and was just hanging around with Sakura. He went through the list of things he could be doing, and picked one out randomnly... Okay, well not so randomly. He loved Chibi like she was his own sister!

Naruto Uzumaki didn't even bother knocking on the door to Sasuke and Hana's house, he just opened it up and walked in like he lived their. There were three kids sitting around a table - they had some snacks out but just seemed to be talking. Two of them, a white haired girl, and a Hyuga, seemed heavily surprised to see him, but not in a nice sort of way. Chibi, on the other hand, jumped up to her feet and literally jumped to hug him.

Naruto yelped, but the force of her leaping-hug made him fall backward on the wood floor. Sakura was laughing behind him and so was Hana, who got off quickly to make sure he was okay. Damn, had she grown up. She was wearing grown up clothes, and was obviously getting a chest... "Geez Girl! You've really grown up!" Naruto laughed. Hana was smiling widely, which he was happy to see. When Naruto left two and a half years ago, that girl never seemed to smile.

"Chibi, who's this?" The Hyuga asked. He had a protective tone to his voice, and he stared at her a little more fondly then he did at Sakura or the white-haired girl. It had to be her boyfriend. Naruto got up to his feet and held out a hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto, at your service!"

The Hyuga didn't even bother shaking his hand, "Hyuga, Ringo," He didn't seem to care, but glanced over at Hana, "Is this really your brother's teammate?" Hana nodded an answer, "Well he annoys me," Hana laughed slightly, like she wasn't surprised by the fact.

"Naruto, you know Ringo, and miss White Haired Wonder over their is Aibara. They're my teammates," Hana introduced her teammates confidently.

"So you graduated! Great!" Naruto said cheerfully, and went over to whisper something to Hana, "Is Ringo you're boyfriend?" The Hyuga shot him a funny look, and Hana instantly went beet red.

"N-no... He isn't, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, "Cool! I think we'll get along great then!"

.xx

.xxx

Niigata-sensei glanced between her three genin. They had all grown a lot since they had first graduated as complaining little brats. She had taught them as much as she could in the past year, so she guessed they were ready, "Okay, you guys can enter the Chuunin Exams," Aibara squeaked and hugged her at these words.

"Oh~ thank you thank you thank you, Sensei!" Aibara squealed. Niigata smiled. If she was excited about this, they were certainly ready.

"You're dismissed for the day. I need to go sign you guys up."

"Hai, Sensei!" The team yelled in unison, and turned to leave. Niigata watched them leave.

Ringo snickered and pulled out a little book, Hana and Aibara glanced to him, "Guess what? I found a book on cheating at the library," He laughed and handed it to Hana.

Hana shook her head, "You? In the library? That's impossible," She flipped through the pages and laughed, "This book is ridiculous," The girl threw it back at Ringo and raced ahead, "First one to the bridge gets to rent the movies tonight!" Hana laughed and started sprinting.

Ringo was after her in a heartbeat, followed by Aibara, who's run could have easily been mistaken for frolicking.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

**QUICK BIO:** Aibara Okinawa

**Birthday:** November 10

**Element:** Water

**Family:** Two unknown parents.

**Appearance:** Pure white hair, always brought up in a pony tail, and beautiful violet eyes. She also has a very nice tan.

**Clothing:** She usually wears tanks, with short shorts that aren't to short. This girl seems to carry around a new weapon every day.

**Guess What?:** Aibara was only in one post with Ringo and Hana on our forum, she never showed up again. The plot was started over for a second time about a month after it was started over for the first time, and her creator, my precious Midster, just never got around to re-making her. Midster doesn't know this, but she was kept alive by plots in my head, and this is how she got her part in the story.

She used to have black hair with green eyes, and a wicked out fit that I can't even remember anymore. Her personality was different - her and Hana were originally meant to be rivals, over Ringo.


	5. The Hawk and The Songbird

**QUICK CREDITS:** Sasuke Uchiha along with the series, belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Hana Uchiha is MY character, along with and Niigata. Aibara and "Songbird" belong to midnight6606. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way.

Don't Wither, Don't Wilt ... chapter 5 - The Hawk and The Songbird.

**A/N:** A SasukexSongbird chapter! This is a flash-back of what happens during that year-long time laspe with Sasuke and Songbird.

----on with the story. xxxxx!

Songbird was singing again this afternoon, but Sasuke noticed how injured her voice was beginning to sound. He should be pleased to hear the bird weep, but he didn't. Perhaps Konoha had made him softer then he had known. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, he glanced over slowly.

Orochimaru's desperate-looking face had neared his, and he was smiling wickedly. He chuckled, "She does have an decent voice, doesn't she?" Sasuke didn't answer his question, "I think it sounds much better with broken wings, hm?" So his theory was right.

"You beat her?" Sasuke asked with a very uncaring voice. Orochimaru smiled even more. What a creep.

"Well I had other people do so, but yes," Orochimaru stepped back, and put a hand on his waist, "Does it bother you?" Sasuke didn't reply right away, but didn't appear to be thinking about his answer.

He shrugged the sanin off, and sheathed his bloody sword, "Not at all," He said coldly, and moved to go home. Orochimaru chuckled behind him, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke glanced behind him once, and veered off of the path, and towards the institute. She had stopped singing by the time he had gotten to the institute.

"Damnit, Songbird," Sasuke stood in the pitch black darkness that consumed the halls. No light flowed through here, no candles were lit, it was just darkness. He closed his eyes and sighed, he felt stupid being lost. It was then that he heard the small sound coming from a nearby door. The hurt sound echoed down the hall, and hit Sasuke as a slight pang of guilt. Songbird was crying.

Sasuke found the door to the cells with ease now, and pushed it open. The sound of crying was choked out by his presence, Sasuke chuckled and moved forward. He stopped at her cell, just as the sun was beginning to move past the window. Her cell was lit up, and he winced inwardly. Her cell was covered in blood. Even worse, Songbird was covered in her own blood, though it was all crusted over and dried. And even though she appeared to be half-dead under all the dry blood, it somehow did not scratch her beauty.

Songbird glanced up at him, and squinted her eyes. Sasuke smirked. In this lighting, the girl couldn't see him - he was just a shadow against the light. Songbird shifted closer to the bars, "Have you come to hear me sing?" She asked in a hurt voice. Sasuke stared at her, and put a hand on the hilt of his chokuto.

"I've come to shut you up, Songbird."

"It's Mariko," The girl said quickly in protest. Sasuke noted her name, but didn't find it as nice as Songbird. She sighed with a shaky breath, "Are you going to kill me?" Her brown eyes dulled at the words. The Uchiha man shook his head, letting his raven hair move to break up the stale air around him.

"Killing a songbird is a sin," Sasuke said with a mild chuckle, and then put on a more serious face, "You need to stop singing," He said now with his normal, cold voice. Mariko laughed, and then made an obvious flinch. She appeared to be in a lot of pain.

"I'm not shutting up because some boy tells me to!" Mariko hissed and made it apparent that she regretted doing so, because she winced in pain again. Sasuke shook his head.

"Orochimaru will kill you," Sasuke warned in a low voice. Mariko frowned.

"What do I have to live for, anyways, hm?" The Songbird asked him with a dull gaze. Sasuke stood there for a moment, and found himself actually trying to conjure up a decent answer for her. A few moments passed, and the sun moved on. Mariko's cell was shadowed again, so Sasuke sighed and left.

.xx

.xxx

The next day, Sasuke slid through training with ease. Each day was becoming so simple, it was ridiculous. He had obviously mastered the raiton jutsu, and he was beginning to think he should learn another. Orochimaru dismissed him right around the time the sun would be seeping into the songbird's cage, and he walked past and waited to hear her singing.

She never did sing that day, and Sasuke felt a wrenching feeling in his chest. Sasuke pushed the strange feeling away, and failed. His heart pounded against his chest for the next few minutes, as if adrenaline had pushed into his system. Was he afraid for her?

The next few days continued like this. He'd be let out near-early every day, he'd walk past the institute, and hear nothing. Within a week, Sasuke had guessed that they had either brought her in for testing or they had killed her. The Uchiha didn't like the idea of people messing with his songbird, and so went in once a week after that and gave the scientist a fine reward for not using her as a test subject. They obeyed.

But still, a month later, he never heard her sing. Sasuke had thought about checking up on her, but he would only get lost in the darkness. He put his focus on other things for a while. Hana's golden birthday was coming up, and he had decided to get her something worth while.

Hissori Ryuu had turned out to be a beautiful katana, and he knew it would be perfect for Hana. He threw on clothing more suited for travel into Konoha, this being a hooded black cloak. Sasuke set out around one warm July night, and walked past the institute with Hana on his mind. But, Hana wasn't on his mind for to long that evening, because he heard the most beautiful sound in the world:

"_Some say love, it is a river_

_That drowns the tender reed._

_Some say love, it is a razor_

_That leaves, your soul to bleed._

_Some say love, it is a hunger_

_An endless aching need._

_I say love, it is a flower-"_

Sasuke was caught by this, and tilted his head to the music. He only did this for a moment, before moving towards the institute.

_"-And you, it's only seed._

_It's the heart, afraid of breaking_

_That never learns to dance._

_It's the dream, afraid of waking_

_That never, takes a chance._

_It's the one, who won't be taken_

_Who cannot, seem to give,_

_And the soul, afraid of dyin'_

_That never learns to live."_

Sasuke pushed the door open the cells. Mariko paused a bit before going on. The Uchiha simply went over to her cell, and sat down in front of it. Sasuke could imagine the girl smiling, but he couldn't tell.

_"When the night, has been too lonely,_

_And the road, has been to long,_

_And you think that love is only,_

_For the lucky, and the strong,_

_Just remember in the Winter,_

_Far beneath, the bitter snows,_

_Lies the seed, that with the Sun's love,_

_In the Spring, becomes the rose."_

Sasuke opened his eyes, and was surprised when he was able to see her. The moon was full tonight, and had slid past the windows while she had been singing. Sasuke smiled to himself. Mariko shifted closer to the bars, and leaned against them carefully. Sasuke could see the marks of whips that reached through her ripped clothes.

"So you came to hear me sing?" The songbird asked softly. She sounded stronger, which pleased Sasuke. He chuckled.

"I assumed you had headed my warning," Sasuke murmured.

"Hmph," Mariko crossed her arms against her chest and glanced up and down the rows, "I did it for these people," She whispered softly, "They like my singing, and I like singing for them," Sasuke didn't reply to this.

"Before I left, my baby sister wouldn't stop singing," Sasuke chuckled a bit and shook his head, "She was obsessing over this boy band, that I hated. I've hated most music ever since," He remembered Hana begging him for the new CD, and he refused to buy it for her. It wasn't the fondest memory he held.

Mariko smiled, "You have a sister?" She asked with a little giggle.

"M'hm," Sasuke replied coldly.

"What's her name?"

"Hana."

"And what's your name?"

Sasuke chuckled a bit, "I'll tell you later, it's not important now," He said and stood up again. Mariko looked like she was pouting.

"You know my name though."

"Fool," Sasuke chuckled, "I gave you your name, Songbird."

Songbird growled slightly before protesting, "My name is Mariko."

"I know, Songbird, I know," Sasuke shot her a smirk, though Mariko couldn't see it. He sighed, "I have to leave," Sasuke said and tightened his grip around the sheathed katana.

"Where are you going?" Mariko asked curiously. Sasuke shrugged.

"Just going to give my baby sister her birthday present." Sasuke sighed and tapped the katana to his shoulder.

"Awe," Mariko giggled, "You have a heart!" Sasuke rolled his eyes, and left for Konoha.

.xx

.xxx

Disguise was to easy to conjure up. A simple cloak, and nobody suspected you. It also helped when you walked in with a group. The group he happened to find had been a large group of genin squads who had failed the latest Chuunin Exams. Sadly, he realized that Hissori Ryuu would be no use to Hana now, because the Chuunin Exams were already being held.

What he found disappointing, was that Hana was admist the crowd. They were lingering to the side he was on, and he could easily hear their conversation.

"You guys should be ashamed of yourselves!" The greasy-haired woman spat. There was a Hyuga boy who looked like he could care less, and a white-haired girl who kept flinching at every word her sensei spoke. Hana was comforting the other girl, and appeared to be the only one paying much attention to her sensei, "This is why you should have been failed! Your lack of teamwork is ridiculous!" Hana shook her head.

"Niigata-sensei, Aibara wasn't ready to take that chance," Hana explained in very annoyed manner, "The team wasn't in it, so we made a decision," She sighed.

The woman named Niigata laughed, "How in the world is failing yourself considered teamwork!" She barked, "If you were on a mission, and one of your teammates wasn't in it, would you go on or just leave?" Niigata asked them. Now the Hyuga spoke.

"Well Sensei, look at it this way," He said briskly, "If a teammate was injured, you couldn't go on. If it was serious enough, you'd leave the mission to get them healed and fight another day," The Hyuga muttered.

Hana nodded in agreement, "Anyways, if you look on the bright side, we can train some more now." The girl laughed a little. The Hyuga faked a laugh and whacked her on the back of the head, "What the hell was that for, Ringo?" Hana growled, and hit him back.

"Damn girl, you can really hit hard!" Ringo rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'm fed up with training, it's so boring," He sighed as they neared the gates.

The white-haired girl laughed, "Well, when all the other genin are all trained and strong, while you're lying around being fed up with training, we'll see who's hitting who," She giggled a bit. Hana shrugged.

"I think I beat Ringo up enough as it is," Hana laughed and glanced at the white-haired girl, "Hey, do you want to spend the night at my house?" She asked and the girl nodded immediately. Ringo glanced over at them.

"Can I come?" He asked. The girls glanced at him suspiciously.

"Why?" The white-haired girl asked.

Ringo sighed, "If I go home tonight, I will be welcomed home to yelling and scolding," He grumbled and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Hana laughed, "Sounds reasonable enough," They entered the village then, and continued on towards the Uchiha reservation. Sasuke smiled, and disappeared into the trees when he could.

.xx

.xxx

"SURPRISE!"

The sound of laughing managed to make its way through into Hana's room. Sasuke finished writing the note quickly, and set it down atop the sheathed katana. He sighed, and pushed himself out of the window, and settled into one of the trees.

It didn't take long for Hana to find her present. She entered her room laughing, and then sighed tiredly. Her silver gaze moved to the katana, and she reached for the note cautiously. Hana read it over a couple of times, by the looks of it, and glanced out the window. Sasuke thought for a moment that she had spotted him, but she looked back down, and grabbed the blade from it's sheathe. Sasuke smiled as she admired it - Hana seemed to like it, because he could see tears in her eyes - and decided that he had spent enough time here.

He had been glad to see his sister. Sasuke had to admit, it was amazing how much she'd grown. Surprisingly, he didn't feel sad about leaving. For some reason, he thought it was because of Mariko, but he couldn't be sure.

.xx

.xxx

Once Sasuke returned to Otogakure, he continued going through his normal routine; he'd train, and then go home and sleep for a while, before waking up in the middle of the night and go to Mariko's cell where he'd listen to her sing, and then they'd talk.

They didn't talk about much. He learned a lot about Mariko. Oddly enough, she had lived in Konoha. Mariko had been in a grade lower then Sasuke, but to his disappointment, graduated at the same time he did. She was stolen from Konoha when Orochimaru found out that her parents knew some ancient healing methods which he needed. Mariko had heard word recently that they had died, and so she had began to sing the songs that they used to play.

Sasuke found himself enjoying these visits to much. He'd stop visiting her for a couple of days, but would eventually go to listen to her sing again. She was almost like a drug, he concluded on, though he never admitted his addiction.

This went on for months. It went on long enough that the leaves had turned ablaze and had fallen from the trees, snow covered the ground soon after, and then before he knew it, it melted away. Birds had migrated back up north months ago, and the cicadas were just beginning to chirp during the hottest part of the days. Sasuke was living a happy life up here, but one day, it just had to change.

.xx

.xxx

Sasuke let his sharingon fade, and sheathed his blade in its sheathe. About 500 men lay around him, all wounded and moaning with pain. He sat him self down on a nearby man, and looked up at Orochimaru was a cold expression. The serpentine sanin glanced around, and placed his hands on his hips, "You're to soft Sasuke," He shook his head, "You need to be merciless in front of your enemies," He sighed.

Sasuke stood up and glared at Orochimaru, "I only need to be merciless in front of _him_," He said coldly, and walked away.

The Uchiha came upon a nice surprise when he walked past the institute. _His_ songbird was being whipped in front of a whole group of test subjects, "See this!" The man holding the whip laughed, "This is what happens to those with hope!" He whipped her again. Sasuke put a hand on his blade, and ran forward.

.xx

.xxx

Mariko winced, expecting another lashing to come upon her. But it never came. She opened one eye, and then another. Her punisher was sliced in half at her feet, she could see his guts spilling out from him, and the stench of death touched her nose. When she looked up to see who had done this, she found a familiar figure painted black against the setting sun.

"It's _you_."

He didn't answer, but merely stepped forward. His face came into few, and she stared at the mystery man for the first time in her life. She instantly recognized him from the Academy, though she couldn't recall his name, all she remembered was that he was an Uchiha, and a heart throb. She stared at him with wide brown eyes. The Uchiha smirked, and Mariko felt her heart leap up into her throat.

"Here's the deal, Songbird," He said, and leaned closer to her, "I'll get you out of here, if you want," The Uchiha smirked some more. As much as she wanted to get herself out of here, she glanced around to the others who had been watching her get beat. There eyes held longing, for they wanted to be free as well. She couldn't.

"I'll get the others out as well."

Mariko nodded. The Uchiha smiled.

"On one condition though, Mariko," The girl looked at him with mild surprise. He had never said her real name, and she had to admit she liked the way he said it. Her brown eyes stared at him expectantly, and she waited for him to go on, "You come back to Konoha, with me."

Mariko tilted her head slightly, "With you?"

"With me. You'll be mine, and I'll be yours," Sasuke said slowly, and moved closer to Mariko. He moved his blade to break the rope that secured her from above. Mariko felt relief run through her arms, and then the pain moving down her back. She fell into his arms without a choice, and looked up at him, "Mariko, I'll set you free, if you'll marry me."

Mariko smiled slightly, but was suddenly pushed back by the Uchiha and onto the ground. She was instantly angry at the raven-haired asshole, but she quickly saw why he had done such a thing. When she glanced up, she found Sasuke pointing his blade towards Orochimaru. Pure chakra and electricity had extended from his blade, and had pierced Orochimaru in the chest.

"Sasuke, you-" Orochimaru choked out a mouthful of blood, and slumped forward. Sasuke sheathed his blade again, and grabbed Mariko back up into his arms again.

"You were saying, Mariko?" Sasuke chuckled a bit as Mariko groaned in pain.

"Yes, Sasuke Uchiha, I'll marry you," She said in a rather grumpy tone. Sasuke smiled, and kissed Mariko passionately. Mariko didn't hesitate to kiss back.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

**QUICK BIO:** Mariko "Songbird" Uchiha

**Birthday:** March 20

**Element:** Wind

**Family:** Unknown.

**Appearance:** Warm brown hair with warm brown eyes.

**Clothing:** Her clothes aren't anything to look at, just some bloody rags at the moment.

**Guess What?:** Mariko didn't come into the picture until the original owner of the forum restarted the plot. Sasuke and Mariko were originally both of Konoha - I was against the whole, Sasuke in the Sound Village thing, and since I role-played Sasuke... ya - and they met by going on a mission together. They started liking each other when Sasuke gave Mariko a massage or something like that... That didn't last long. When the plot was restarted a second time, this happened, but in a slightly different way. Sasuke saved Mariko the first day he heard her sing, and kept her as a "slave/servant" - or that's what he told Orochimaru - and they got to know each other when Sasuke changed Mariko's bandages, which went around her chest and torso... Anyways. Mariko never really sang any of these two songs that were given in the chapters, the song she original sang was "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan.

_---*The lyrics are from Aoi Teshima's "The Rose"._


	6. It's Now or Never

**QUICK CREDITS:** Naruto and the original characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way. Aibara Okinawa belongs to midnight6606. Kagamori belongs to Nina of Warrior Cats 3. Hana, Niigata, Hikaru, and Takako belong to me. _**MOST**_** of the dialogue by Ibiki Morino and Anko Mitarashi are from the manga translations of Onemanga dot com.**

Don't Wither, Don't Wilt ... chapter 6 - It's Now or Never

**A/N:** The Chuunin Exams begin! We're officially all caught up with Shippuden and the plot just starts rolling from here. Excitement is on the way for Squad 5!

**Note:** During this time, Gaara would have been revived by the old lady, and Naruto and Sakura would have been introduced to Sai and Yamato.

----on with the story. xxxxx!

She moved a clothe over the blade slowly. Her silver eyes had dulled slightly as if she was in deep thought. The katana lied across her lap. It was spotless, yet she continued to shine it. Two pairs of eyes kept glancing over to her suspiciously from where they were sitting at the table. Finally one of them stood up, a man with a decent build and dark brown hair that ran down to his shoulders. He stood in front of the raven-haired girl, but she didn't seem to notice him.

"Chibi," He knelt down in front of her. Hana looked up at him after a moment. Her face held no emotion, which was something he disliked to see, "You've been shining that thing for hours, I think you can stop now," His Hyuga eyes stared at her curiously. Hana looked down at the blade her brother had given her, and nodded.

"Yeah," She said simply, and went to sheathe her katana. Ringo stood back up, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Who gave you that thing anyways?" Ringo asked out of random. Hana paused for a moment, before getting up and placing the sheathed katana by the rest of her things. It was the night before the Chuunin Exams, and she didn't seem to be in a good mood, "You had it the day after your thirteenth birthday, but it wasn't one the presents," He thought for a moment. Hana merely glanced at him before looking away.

Ringo raised a brow, "It was your brother, wasn't it?" He saw her tense up, and he rolled his eyes, "Why are you getting all depressed over this now then. It's been nearly three years since-"

"That's just it," Hana glanced back at him and Aibara, "Naruto told me when he got back, that he only had three years to get Sasuke back before Orochimaru - takes him," She said quickly. Ringo frowned. It was obvious that she had been worrying about this for some time, not just today.

"He'll be okay, Hana-chan," Aibara said with a hopeful smile. Hana smiled back down at her, and that seemed to please Aibara. Ringo saw through it though, and sighed.

"Aibara," Ringo turned towards the white-haired girl, "It's your turn to get the snacks for the sleepover," He shot her a smile, and nodded his head to Hana. Aibara glanced between the two, and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right," She smiled and laughed a little, "I'll be right back!" Aibara grabbed her backpack that held her money, and basically skipped out of the door. Ringo turned back to Hana, who was giving him a small glare.

"Ringo, I'm fine," The Uchiha attempted to convince him, but he wouldn't buy it.

"No, you're not," Ringo said and stepped closer to her. He was much taller then her, and it was a bit intimidating. She glanced up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Why is it such a big deal?" Hana said quietly.

Ringo laughed, "Because the Chuunin Exams are tomorrow, dummy!" He said loudly and then quickly softened his voice, "If you're not a 110% in this, we'll fail," He finished. His pale eyes stared her over, and he felt the odd urge to brush her hair back from her face, just to comfort her.

"I'll be fine, Ringo," Hana repeated.

"Hana," Hana glanced up at Ringo again. She looked as if she were about to cry. Ringo sighed and wrapped his arms around her. Hana buried her face into his chest and sobbed, "We're here for you, okay?" Ringo felt very awkward, but made himself rub her back comfortingly. It was for Hana, and the team, so he guessed it was okay.

"Ringo," Her voice was shaky, but not as sad sounding.

"Hm?"

"You're really bad at acting nice," Hana laughed a little and hugged him back before stepping back. Ringo smiled and chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, I know."

.xx

.xxx

The sun moved slowly from the horizon and behind the trees that surrounded the Uchiha's house. Even though the trees were full of leaves this time of year, the rays of sun filtered through the gaps and through the window of her house. Hana felt the warm sun on her face, and was awake within minute. She stretched her arms out and arched her back and let her body crack back into place. The Uchiha girl yawned as she opened her eyes and realized what she had been sleeping on.

Ringo was glaring at her with his pale Hyuga eyes. Hana found her arms around him, and her cheek was rested on his shoulder, "Move it, you stupid Uchiha," He said in a strained voice. Hana grinned and sat back. She reached for the ceiling with her arms and stretched again, and looked around to see where Aibara was.

The white-haired girl had managed to drape herself over both of their laps, and was now covering the floor boards to Ringo's side with drool, "You girls sleep in very odd positions," Ringo grumbled as he rolled Aibara off of their laps and got up. Aibara rolled herself onto her back and stretched herself out.

"You know you like it Ringo-kuuun," She purred in a voice that clearly said she was half-asleep. Hana saw Ringo role his eyes, and watched him as he walked out of the room.

"Aibara you honestly need to wake up now," Hana laughed and crawled over to her white-haired friend. It was easy to wake her up, all you had to do was tickle her stomach and she was up. The Uchiha did so, but the girl merely curled up and rolled to the side.

"Why?" She moaned tiredly.

"The Chuunin Exams are today," Hana said simply. Aibara practically leaped out of her skin at the words, and was up in a flash. The Uchiha smiled victoriously. Ringo was back in a flash, it seemed, and stared at the girls with a very odd expression.

"Uchiha, make me food," He grumbled and scratched the back of his head as he walked over to the couch and sat down. Aibara nodded in agreement and fell back down on the ground, only to wrap herself up in her blankets again. Hana rolled her eyes.

"You guys are honestly hopeless," She grumbled and headed for the kitchen.

.xx

.xxx

Squad Five nodded to their sensei as she gave them some last minute advice, "And remember, please remember, if you give up this time, I _will never_ let you try for the Chuunin Exams again," She rubbed her temples at the thought. Niigata-sensei turned around and pointed a finger at Aibara, "That means if you get scared that your gunna fail, to bad! It's either now or never, Missy!" Aibara blinked at the very friendly attitude coming from her sensei, but nodded with a smile a moment later.

Their sensei smiled, "Okay, you can go on now. Don't let the other genin intimidate you, because you're probably one of the most intimidating teams in there," She said, and gave them a thumbs up. The team considered it pretty lame, but forced a smile back. Niigata-sensei had never acted like this.

She finally stepped out of the way, and Ringo pushed open on of the doors. The team entered together into a whole classroom full of shinobi from other countries. Most of them looked pretty mean, while others looked like rookies, but some teams were familiar. For instance:

"Hana-chan~!"

Hana felt a force slam into her, and squeeze her in a tight hug, "Hikaru!" She choked out and tried to push herself away from his deadly hug. It had been about a month since they had really talked, and boy, was she glad to see him, "What the hell are you doing here?" She laughed once she got herself away.

"Me and my team are trying out for the Chuunin Exams of course!" Hikaru laughed and shot a wide grin. Two people came up behind him. One was a taller man with a nice build and jet black hair, amazing green eyes stared them over, and finally landed on Hana. He raised one brow like he was admiring her, and then shot her a handsome grin.

The green-eyed man held out a hand and smiled, "Nice to meet you, Uchiha-san," He said smoothly, "Hikaru's said a lot about you."

Hana stared at the hand for a moment before shaking it, "Er, nice to meet you to, uh-..."

"This is Kagamori," Hikaru said, patting him on the shoulder. Hana nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Kagamori," She repeated and glanced to the other person. Her hair was a very odd red-violet color, and her eyes were a strange amber. The girl was tall enough, and had a decent-sized chest. Hana had to say, she was jealous of the girls looks, and by the look on Aibara's face, so was she, "And you are?" Hana pointed this question to the girl.

"Takako." Was all she said. Hana merely nodded.

"And your teammates, Uchiha-san?" Kagamori asked as he glanced to Ringo, and then stared at Aibara. The white-haired girl blushed beat red before introducing herself.

"Okinawa, Aibara."

"Hyuga, Ringo," Ringo put a hand on Hana's shoulder and shrugged towards an open table, "C'mon, we can sit over there." Hana could have sworn he sounded very grumpy, but she couldn't be sure. The first test was about to begin, and she was to excited to focus on anyone.

.xx

.xxx

A sudden sound entered the room. All the genin moved their gaze to the cloud that had appeared in the front of the room. The cloud moved away to show a muscular scarred man, along with a group of chuunin and jounin. She had difficulty swallowing for a moment, but relaxed as the examiner introduced himself.

"Thanks for waiting," He said slowly. His gaze swept over the genin before he spoke again, "I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the Chuunin Selection Exam's first test. Now let's get this over with," Ibiki sighed and looked around once more before going on, "First off, there will be no fighting without the permission of the examiner. Even if permission is granted, killing your opponent will not be permitted."

Takako crossed her arms over her large chest and sighed, "Bummer." Hikaru and Kagamori hushed her in a moment's notice, and let the examiner go on.

"Those who disobey me, or any examiner, will be failed immediately," Ibiki narrowed his eyes now, "Do I make myself clear?" He was answered by silence. Hana glanced down at her teammates. Ringo was expressionless, and Aibara had a very confident look on her face. The Uchiha smiled slightly and instantly found herself relaxing.

"We will now start the first test in the Chuunin Exam," Ibiki started, and grabbed for a scrap of something with the number one on it, "Now, you will pick on of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams."

"Wait- What?" Hikaru choked out, "A written exam?"

Hana expected this much. Sasuke had went over briefly what happened in the first exam when he had come home for one last lunch before the second round. After that, Sasuke was in the hospital, and then out training, then Itachi got him, and after that he just left. She shuddered slightly, but instantly felt a hand on her shoulder. Ringo glanced down at her, and smiled slightly. Hana returned a thankful smile and turned her attention back to the examiner.

"Yes, a written exam. Come take your number and sit down."

.xx

.xxx

Ringo looked around the room for where Aibara and Hana had been seated. They were all on opposite sides of the rooms. The rules seemed simple enough: They started off with ten points. Each question is worth a point. Get one wrong, you loose a point. You're graded on how you AND your teammates do. And oh yeah, don't forget that if your caught cheating, you loose two points.

The thing was, and the team knew it, that you had to cheat to pass the test. Now, this was just fine for Ringo because he had his Byakugan. Aibara was actually okay to, because she had a ring that held a mirror-like gem, and she had gotten very good at angling it to see things across the room. Hana was the problem.

Why one of the sole remaining Uchihas _didn't_ have sharingon, he'd never know. She was just lucky she was intelligent enough, or they would be doomed. The test began shortly after the rules had been said, and the classroom was quickly filled with the sound of pencils hitting the paper.

Ringo looked around for someone who had started almost instantly. The man seemed very confident, because his posture was straight and he didn't pause during answers to really think. He was someone that knew this stuff. _Byakugan!_ The Hyuga summoned quietly. Veins welled up to the corners of his eyes and he could feel his eyes strengthen. Within seconds, he could see through nearly anything, and he could also see the tests.

.xx

.xxx

Hana read over the questions carefully. Her grip on the test tightened slightly, and frustration coursed through her. It would be so much easier if she had sharingon, she could just copy the pen strokes of Ringo then, who seemed to be getting this. She sighed and relaxed. Sakura just happened to be a life-saver, and had made her study many of the things on the test.

If anyone could pass it, an Uchiha could. Hana grinned slightly and began working on the first question. Before she knew it, she was on the ninth question. She read the tenth question over again: _This question will be revealed 45 minutes after the test begins. Listen to the examiner closely before answering._

Hana smiled to herself. She could manage it.

.xx

.xxx

Aibara glanced her violet eyes around the room. Ringo seemed to be doing good, and Hana seemed to be getting the just of it. She was near the back of the room while Hana was near the front, and Ringo to the side in the middle. It wasn't the kindest of set-ups, but that didn't matter. She needed to get some answers.

She flicked her pointer finger a bit, and stared admiringly at the ring. A large gem had been planted atop a strong ring. It held many tiny mirror in it, and if she aimed it just right, she could grab test scores from nearly anyone. Aibara found it difficult to get to Ringo's answers, but she managed it after a moment.

She nodded once, and Ringo moved his arm aside and leaned back in his chair. Aibara got to copying down the answers with her left hand - she just happened to be able to use both hands perfectly - and quickly got the questions in few minutes. When she nodded again, Ringo moved his sheet up a bit, and the next questions came into few on the very small ring. within minutes, she had the answers copied down. Now she just had to wait for the tenth question.

.xx

.xxx

"Okay, and now, we will begin the tenth question."

Hana lifted her head up, and looked around. The room had been cleared throughout the test, and barely half of the teams had managed to stay. It was shocking to see how many people had failed already. She shuddered slightly and focused her attention back on the examiner.

"Now, before we get to it," Ibiki started and set a cold stare upon the remaining genin, "I'd like to go over the added rules to this question," There were a bunch of startled gasps and grunts. No one was expecting this. Hana merely remembered that she had nothing to lose with this question, and smiled.

"First, for this tenth question, you must decide whether or not you want to take it." Ibiki stated. She heard a pencil snap in half, and finally noticed Takako sitting two seats over from her.

"And what happens if we choose not too! Huh?!" Takako seemed furious. Hana imagined Hikaru getting beat on a lot by this girl. It looked like she wouldn't take shit from anyone.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero. And you'll fail." Ibiki stated. There were some cries of protest and anger in the croud. She thought she could hear Ringo chuckling to himself.

"But if you choose to take it, and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to take the Chuunin Exams ever again," Hana's blood ran cold at the words, and she gripped her pencil tightly.

There was silence as they waited for the examiner to finish the rules, "Those who aren't confident can choose not to take it, and take it again next year. It's your choice," Ibiki smiled, "So let's begin the tenth question."

"Those that do not want to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave." Ibiki said, and waited. Silence overwhelmed the classroom, but within seconds, someone raised their hand.

"Number 50, you fail," One of the watchers spoke, "Number 103, Number 87, you fail as well." Immediately the room was filled with the sound of people being failed. The room was clearing quickly, she shuddered.

About fifty people were left when she saw Hikaru raise his hand. She and Takako shot their gaze over to him. Hana guessed that he didn't do a good job on the first part of the test - she had always had to help him with his homework when they were little, and he was no good at it - but it was shocking to see her friend raise his hand like that. But to her surprise, he slammed it down on the desk and laughed.

"You aren't going to scare me!" He yelled. Takako slammed her palm to her forehead, "I'm not afraid of some lousy test!" Hikaru grinned. Hana could see the confidence sparkling in his blue eyes. Ibiki tilted his head.

"I'll ask you again," Ibiki said, "Your life is riding on this decision, this is your last chance to quit."

"I'm not afraid, of a test question," Hikaru repeated, "No one's going to stop me from passing," The blond sat down and crossed his arms. Ibiki looked around, and nodded.

"Good decisions, now to everyone still remaining."

Hana glanced at Ringo, who smiled confidently and gave her a thumbs up. She turned to Aibara, who was looking fairly confident as well. The Uchiha nodded, and turned back to the examiner. She could handle this.

"I congratulate you on passing the first test!" Ibiki yelled. Hana's eyes widened. They'd passed?

"What do you mean we already passed?" Hana asked out of shock, "What about the tenth question?"

Ibiki laughed and smiled, "There never was such a thing!" The classroom fell silent, "Or you could say that those two choices were the question." Takako growled next to her and stood up.

"So the other nine questions were pointless?" She yelled. Ibiki threw on a straight face again.

"They were not pointless. They had already served their intended purpose," He paused, "The first nine questions were to test your individual information gathering ability. That purpose."

"First, as the rules explained, success on this test is based on the whole team doing well. This puts pressure on each member not to mess things up for their teammates."

"Oh, I guessed it was something like that," Hikaru said and nodded. Takako rolled her eyes. Hana giggled to herself and shook her head.

Ibiki went on, "But these questions were not the types that mere genin could answer. Because of that, I'm sure most of the people came to the conclusion that to score points... I'll have to cheat." Hikaru nodded again. He should really stop trying so hard to make people think he was smart, "Basically the premise of this test is to cheat. And to help you out, we placed two Chuunin who knew all the answers into the crowd."

The examiner put his hands to his forehead protector, and began to untie the clothe, "But those who cheated poorly, failed of course," And this was when he pulled off his forehead protector and revealed a horrific sight, "Because... In times, information is more important than life. And on missions and on the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it."

_All those scars. He's a survivor of some serious torture methods._ Hana stared at the examiner's head. _It looks horrible._

"If the enemy or third party notices you, there is no guarantee the information will be accurate," He began to place his forehead protector back on his head, "I want you to remember this: Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and the village. So we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that did not have the right abilities."

There were a couple confused looks in the audience, "I still don't get the whole point to this though. When will we use this?" Takako muttered. The auburn-haired girl rested her head in her hands and waited for explanation. Ibiki raised a brow.

"Well let's put it this way and say you guys do become chuunin," Ibiki was starting to sound like he had said these words before, "Your mission is to steal information from the enemy. Now you know nothing about the number of enemies, their abilities, or anything. There's also the possibility that they have traps already waiting for you. Now do you accept, or not accept?"

There was silence before she went on, "Because you don't want to die, because you don't want your comrades to get injured, can you avoid the dangerous mission?"

"No," It wasn't Ibiki who spoke. Everyone looked back to the white-haired girl with dulled violet eyes, "You can't. In the real world, in a shinobi's world... There is no 'maybe next year'," Ringo and Hana smiled at each other, "In the real world, it's now or never." Aibara glanced over at her teammates with an apologetic smile.

"That's right," Ibiki nodded, "No matter what the danger, there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous, and survive any hardship... This is the ability needed to be Chuunin," His face got more serious as he spoke, "Those who can't put their destinies on the line, those who cling to the uncertain future of 'there's always next year', those people do not have the right to become Chuunin... that's how I feel!"

"Anyone who chooses to take the tenth question, passes. Those people will be able to survive any troubles they face in the future," Ibiki smiled slightly now, and scanned over the crowd once, "The first test of the Chuunin Selection Exams are now over. I wish you luck." The sound of sighs of relief and cheers filled the room. Ringo and Hana ran over to Aibara and gave her a giant cheesy group hug, just for passing.

But just behind them, the ceiling tiles began to crumble away. Soon enough tiles were falling, and fell down near the front of the room. All the celebrating genin threw their heads to the person that fell through the ceiling, "Quit your celebrating! It's time for the second round!" The voice barked, "I'm Mitarashi Anko, and I'll be your examiner for the second round! Follow me!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

**QUICK BIO:** Hikaru

**Birthday:** June 4

**Element:** Earth

**Family:** Parents. An older brother ( around 20 ), a younger sister ( about 4 ).

**Appearance:** Dirty blond hair with extremely blue eyes. He has a slight build a tan skin.

**Clothing:** Usually a brown and orange colored clothes of some sort. Nothing real fancy.

**Guess What?:** Hikaru was the second original character I had ever made. He was Hana's teammate since the beginning, I mean literally the beginning to. Even when Hana's name was just a bunch of gibberish that I thought was Japanese, he was Hikaru, her teammate. I got the name from Hikaru No Go, which I had been reading at the time, and just went along with it. He's always had blond hair and blue eyes, I don't know why. Another teammate that had been there since the beginning was Akira, who was mentioned in chapter 1, and I think I got him from Hikaru No Go too ( to lazy to check though. ) Anyways, Hikaru didn't originally come into the forums until the plot was restarted for a second time. He didn't have a very important role, he was just Hana's childhood friend. I eventually killed Hikaru off, because it would work well for the introduction of another character ( you might meet her someday too. ) If I had to date one of the characters in here, he would be the one. I think I gave him a lot of the qualities I like to see in others.


	7. The Worst Start

**QUICK CREDITS:** Naruto and the original characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way. Aibara Okinawa belongs to midnight6606. Kagamori belongs to Nina of Warrior Cats 3. Hana, Niigata, Hikaru, and Takako belong to me. _**MOST**_** of the dialogue by Ibiki Morino and Anko Mitarashi are from the manga translations of Onemanga dot com.**

Don't Wither, Don't Wilt ... chapter 7 - The Worst Start

**A/N:** The Second Test begins! This probably won't end up being the best day of their life.

**Note:** During this time, Gaara would have been revived by the old lady, and Naruto and Sakura would have been introduced to Sai and Yamato.

----on with the story. xxxxx!

Aibara had always been the easiest to startle. She whipped her brilliant violet gaze to the front of the room just as the ceiling tiles gave way. Without thinking, she flinched and moved past Ringo and Hana. Her Hyuga partner cursed under his breath and seemed to jump a little. Hana seemed like she had been expecting this, and glanced her wonderful silver gaze over to front of the room. Aibara followed the gaze of her raven-haired friend, and saw a woman standing amidst the rubble.

Her hair was styled to suite her wild attitude. It was very dark, but held an almost violet color when the sun touched it. Her gray eyes seemed to be on fire as she stared at the genin, "Quit your celebrating!" The lady barked, "I'm Anko Mitarashi, and I'll be your examiner for the second round! Follow me!"

Aibara blinked in confusion, as did the rest of the genins. Anko's gaze narrowed and a frown pushed her lips down. She sighed, "Bad timing?" Aibara guessed that this had happened before. Ibiki nodded from his corner.

"Just barely," He said in a low voice, "And, I'm not fixing that," Ibiki pointed to the ceiling. Anko sighed and let her eyes dance around the room.

"Eighteen teams?" The examiner glanced back at Ibiki, "Fifty-four kids got past? That's a bit to much, Ibiki. You're getting soft," Anko smirked wryly before returning her frightening gaze back to the genin. Ibiki chuckled a bit.

"We seem to have a good crop this year," Ibiki stated.

Anko merely shrugged, "Well I'll take care of that then," She laughed. The lady moved her hands to her hips and leaned back a bit, "I bet I can cut about three-fourths of these guys out, no problem," The examiner grinned. Aibara felt fear clutch her heart. A cool hand grabbed hers, and Aibara glanced over at Hana.

She grinned, "Now or never, Aibara-chan," Hana murmured in a very comforting tone, "We'll be one of the teams that get through, don't worry," Aibara stared at Hana for a moment, and nodded. She shouldn't get so worked up over this yet, they hadn't even started.

"Now go and grab your supplies, and meet me back here in an hour. Dismissed!" Anko yelled and disappeared.

.xx

.xxx

The sun was very bright that afternoon. Hana Uchiha found herself holding her hand at her forehead, like a visor. All the genin had been lead out of the academy, where the testing had been held, and were now being lead towards a training ground that she had never heard about. They walked in silence for nearly a half hour before murmurs sounded from up ahead.

"This is it," Hana breathed. And as she did so, she and the rest of the genin were introduced to their worst nightmares. In the clearing that lie beyond the village was a secluded forest where many genin perished. Her silver eyes widened a fraction as she saw a dreadfully looking caged forest.

No genin spoke, and no sound came from the forest. The trees appeared to be ancient, for they stood tall and wide. Vines and moss coated each tree, and practically draped over the trees to darken the forest. Hana felt Aibara shudder next to her, and glanced to see Ringo draping an arm over her shoulder, "Nothing to worry about," He spoke rather slowly, as if he were trying to convince himself. Hana laughed a little, and dodged a mock punch by Ringo.

"Welcome, young Genin, to the Forest of Death," Anko moved to the front of the crowd and turned on a heel to face them. A rush of murmurs ran through the crowd.

"Forest of Death my ass," The blond haired boy walked up beside his childhood friend, and glanced down at the Uchiha, "This doesn't scare me," He laughed. Hana smiled and patted her friend's back and giggled a bit before responding.

"Sure," She murmured sarcastically, "You just keep thinking that Hikaru-kun," Hana smiled up at Hikaru, but he merely returned a frown.

"Aren't you worried at all about the test?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke.

"Well, first of all, we don't even know what the test is," Hana spoke logically, "Second of all, if Sakura-san passed this round, what should we have to worry about?" She laughed a little. All she was trying to do was cheer up her friend. Hikaru still frowned at her, and glanced away.

"Even the easiest of missions can result in death," He muttered briskly before walking away, back to his team. Hana stared after her friend quizzically, and frowned. She had pushed a button, obviously, but she couldn't place what she had said that would have hurt his feelings. As she watched Hikaru's team, she noticed Kagamori glance at her with slightly dulled green eyes.

Hana glanced at the Hyuga who stepped up behind her. Ringo could obviously see the hurt expression on her face, and he shrugged, "If there's anything I've learned about Hikaru, it's that, he's weird," Hana's hurt expression turned into a glare and she pushed him playfully. Aibara jumped up behind him, giggling all the way.

"Maybe it's puberty!" She squeaked. Ringo rolled his eyes and Hana burst out laughing. Hana's soft laughter was cut off by the loud barking voice of Anko.

"Now, before we start the next test, there's something I have to pass out," Her hand reached into the side of her jacket, and she pulled out a stack of papers. The genin looked mildly confused by these, "You must sign these agreement forms. There will be deaths during this test, and if you don't sign these papers, you'd all be my responsibility," At this, she laughed with a wide smile on her face. Hana gulped.

"Now I'll explain the test, and then you can sign the papers. After that, the teams can check in at that booth behind me," Anko spoke and pointed to a wooden booth with two bored-looking chuunin occupying it, "Now during this test, you will attempt the ultimate survival," She then pulled out a scroll and let it drop. A map appeared on the scroll, and she went on.

"This is the map of Practice Area number 44. Around this practice area, are 44 locked gates. Within this area are forests, a river, and a tower in the center. The distance between the gates to the tower is ten kilometers," Anko paused, and put the scroll back in her jacket, she pulled out two more scrolls and began speaking again, "During the survival test in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using your many weapons and jutsu, you will compete in a no rules scroll battle."

She held up the two scrolls in front of her. Hana caught a glimpse of them, and found one had the characters for Heaven, and one had the characters for Earth, "You will fight over these two scrolls, "Earth" and "Heaven". Now there's fifty-four of you here..." Anko did the quick math in her head before going on, "Half of the teams, nine teams, will get the Earth scroll. The other half, will get the Heaven scroll. To pass this test, your team must make it to the tower with both scrolls."

Ringo sighed loudly, "Nine teams will definitely fail, that's not a good number," He whispered, mostly to himself, it appeared.

"There's a time limit. This second test will last 120 hours, exactly five days."

At this, there were many voices of disapproval and shock, "What will we do for food?" One man shouted in the front.

Anko shrugged, "You're on your own. The forest is full of food, just watch out for man-eating beasts, poisonous insects, poisonous plants... So, as you can see, the chance that nine teams will pass is very unlikely. As the days go on, the distance to the goal will become father, the time to rest will be shorter. The forest will be crawling with enemies, you won't sleep much."

The genin were silent now, but you could easily tell how tense everyone had become. Even the feeling was dark now, "So not only will some fail by loosing their scroll, but some will die from the harshness of the test," Anko put away the two scrolls and smiled, "Now let's talk about what will disqualify you."

"First, those that don't make it to the tower with both scrolls within the time limit. Second, those that lose a teammate, or have a teammate killed." Anko held up her fingers to one and two, "As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle. Once you're in there, you're in there for five days." The teams nodded understandingly, but the examiner had one more rule for them.

"Oh, you must also not look in your scrolls until you reach the tower."

There was silence until a voice spoke out, "What happens if you do?" Hana glanced to see Kagamori speaking now. His expression was dead serious, and very intimidating.

Anko shot him a smirk, "That's a surprise for anyone who does." She shoved her hands in her pocket and glanced around the genin, "A Chuunin will be asked to handle classified information, this is to test your trust-worthiness. Any questions?"

The genin were silent, "Good. So that's it for explanations. Exchange the three forms for your scroll, and then choose a gate and get ready for the start."

.xx

.xxx

Everyone had gone off on their own now, to read the papers over. Hana slid down behind a rock. She read over the paper maybe three times, but she couldn't understand what she was reading. Her mind was on Hikaru. It was bugging her greatly, she wished she knew what he had been so bugged out about. She sighed loudly and whacked her head against the boulder behind her.

A rustle in the bushes finally caught her attention. She jumped a bit, but found it was only Kagamori. The pale-skinned boy could be mistaken for the fair skin of an Uchiha, but his eyes were an amazing emerald green which no Uchiha family had ever obtained, "Oh, Kagamori-kun, it's just you," Hana laughed a little. Kagamori stepped out of the brush and kneeled down in front of Hana. For a moment, he just stared at her, which made Hana feel very uncomfortable.

"You seem upset," He spoke softly. Hana tried to think of a decent comment to that, but merely nodded slowly, "Hikaru's sorry for snapping earlier like that," Kagamori smiled slightly.

"What did he mean earlier?" Hana asked curiously. Kagamori's emerald eyes dulled, and he shook his head.

"Hana-chan, you see about a week after we all became genin, Hikaru's older brother was murdered on a simple C-Rank mission," Kagamori murmured grimly. Hana's eyes widened, and she felt like she had been kicked in the gut. Her poor Hikaru, to have been going through this, "Hikaru adored his brother, he was a great man. His brother died by a Mist rogue, while he was protecting his escort. After that, Hikaru kept to himself. Of course, he got over it eventually, I think because of his baby sister... Hana, are you okay?"

Hana shook her head, "I didn't know, and I treated him like crap when he finally spoke to me again," She planted her forehead into her palm, and found tears working their way to her eyes. The Uchiha felt sick to her stomach now, "I'm terrible," She sighed.

Kagamori grunted in surprise a bit and waved his hands in objection, "Oh, Hana, don't feel bad!" He said hurriedly, "I didn't want to make you feel worse, I just wanted to let you know. It's made him stronger Hana-chan, it's taught him a lot, he's fine and happy now, don't worry. And please, don't cry," Kagamori rambled on with the comforting, and eventually managed to make Hana burst into a gigglefit.

"Okay, Kagamori-kun, okay," Hana laughed and patted his shoulder, "Sorry to freak out on you like that, I'm fine," Kagamori heaved a sigh and smiled.

"Good, but I gotta go. You should hurry up and sign those papers," Kagamori stood and smiled towards the raven-haired girl, "See you soon, Hana-chan," He laughed and walked off.

Hana smiled, and went back to reading the form for about the fifth time.

.xx

.xxx

Ringo glanced his pale eyes over just as they announced that they were accepting forms. The Hyuga had already signed his, and so had Aibara, they were just waiting for Hana. He noted the closed curtains, and tilted his head, "They don't let you see which scroll they have, and who has the scroll, smart. This will be tough, and dangerous." He glanced over at Aibara, who was lounging peacefully next to him, "We just might die in this one. Do you really want to do this?"

Aibara glanced her beautiful violet eyes over and flashed a perfect smile, "Course I do! Nothing's gunna kill me, I promise you," The white-haired girl laughed and glanced around, "But at this rate, we won't have to worry. Hana sure is taking her time."

Ringo snorted, "My guess is that Hikaru made her upset on purpose, just to sabotage her," He rolled his pale eyes. Aibara appeared shocked.

"He wouldn't though!" She squeaked, "Hikaru-kun loves Hana-chan!" Aibara said, a bit to loudly. Ringo grunted in surprise and glanced at Aibara.

"No he doesn't!"

"Yes he does. You can see the way he looks at Hana-chan!"

"What way?"

"The _loving_ way, _duh_!"

Ringo laughed, "Well Hana doesn't love him," He snorted. Aibara whacked him across the head, "Ow-!"

"You don't know that!"

"Neither do you-" Ringo growled and glanced over at the booth, "Their goes the good-looking team now," Ringo laughed a little. Aibara stared at him quizzically, and then at Hikaru and his team, and then back at Ringo.

"Huh?"

"Well, just look at Takako!" Ringo pointed as the girl walked in, "Her boobs are giant!" He threw out his arms to this fact and laughed at the expression on Aibara's face, "They have to be like double D's or something!"

"Ringo that's gross!" Aibara whacked him again.

Ringo laughed, "Oh come on, Aibara, you know you're jealous," Aibara blushed at this, "Any girl would want her chest!"

"Not true," Aibara said simply. Ringo raised a brow, "Big boobs are a hassle."

"Really," Ringo said, "So you just like girls with big boobs then?"

"WHAT!?" Aibara squealed and whacked him, "Ringo you're such a pervert!"

Ringo barked in laughter, "I know, I know- Hey, here comes Hana," The Hyuga stood up and dragged Aibara over to Hana, "Let's get going."

.xx

.xxx

"Gate 28," Aibara murmured, and glanced over to Ringo and Hana, "Why did we choose this gate again?"

"Because, I said so," Ringo crossed his arm over his chest, and looked at the "Earth" scroll they had received, "Hana, you know if you had sharingon, you'd be holding this scroll," He murmured as he stared at the characters.

Hana shrugged, "I don't think I'm ever going to get sharingon, honestly," She sighed, "I was a really weak child, and sharingon would take a lot out of me," The girl fell quiet, and then jumped for her backpack.

"Speaking of weak," She rummaged through her backpack quickly, and pulled out three bottles filled with round black pills, "Food pills, enough for each of us," Hana grinned.

Ringo and Aibara took their bottle of pills, and stared at them, "More then enough," Ringo murmured, "Did you bring anything else?"

Hana dove back into her backpack, and brought out a little book," Sakura gave me a book on poisonous plants, and plants you can eat," Hana grinned.

"Sakura-san's a life-saver." Aibara purred and let out a mighty sigh of relief.

The instructor they had followed unlocked the gate behind them, and stared at his watch. The second round was about to begin, and team 5 was definitely ready.

"Hey, Ringo," Hana glanced at the Hyuga as they stepped up to the gate, "Any plans?" Ringo glanced back at Hana and grinned.

"Only one, Uchiha."

The instructor began stepping aside for the team to go through.

"Not one of us will die in this round, sound like a plan?"

.xx

.xxx

Within the first few minutes, Team 5 heard many screams and traps being set. It wasn't long until the team was far to paranoid. They slinked through the shadows for half a day until they found what seemed to be a wonderful spot. A giant boulder lay like a small mountain in the crook of a hill. It had a large crack down the side, and it was small enough to get in. On the inside it was rather hollow, as if someone was able to dig it out.

"Listen guys," Hana whispered once they had gotten inside. Aibara sat down and sighed. Ringo stood at the crack, his Byakugan was set, and he was ready for any opponent, "We need a codeword, or something, in case people try to pose as us."

Ringo crossed his arms over his chest, "How about, 'I hate life'?" Hana narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment.

"The codeword will be like a test. All you have to do is put the meaning of our names into a little sentence, it's simple," Hana murmured quietly. Aibara frowned.

"Wouldn't that be to simple?"

Ringo laughed a little, "Not at all, it's actually very complicated," He smiled and glanced at Hana, "So do we want to make this base then? The tower isn't to far off."

Hana nodded, "But there's gotta be some rules," She murmured, "First, one person has to be on watch at the front at all times, even if you're by yourself. If we were caught in here, it wouldn't be hard to get killed. And Ringo, you need to take night shift, okay?"

"Why?"

"Because you have byakugan. This place is fine for staying in, but it could be so easily turned against us. We need to be careful."

"Right," Ringo and Aibara said in unison.

"Aibara, you're on watch now. Ringo, you can rest, since it's getting late. I'll find some berries or something for us to eat and be back in two hours. If I'm not back by then, come look for me." Hana said, and glitched off into the tree tops.

.xx

.xxx

Ringo had fallen into a decent sleep soon after Hana had left. None of them had gotten much sleep the night before, so it was relief to be resting now. But just as he had fallen asleep, it seemed, Aibara was waking him up. He blinked his pale eyes open, and glanced at the white-haired girl, and then around for Hana, "Is it time to eat?" He said in a yawning voice.

Aibara shook her head. Ringo focused on her worried violet eyes, "It's getting dark Ringo. Hana stopped by an hour ago, but she isn't back yet, and she said she'd be," Aibara whimpered. Ringo jumped up and ran outside.

"C'mon Aibara, let's go find her," He barked. The two took off in a flash, and disappeared off into the dusk.

On the cool ground within the hollowed out stone, a lonely "Earth" scroll lie helpless and unprotected.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

**QUICK BIO:** Kagamori

**Birthday:** January 25

**Element:** Lightning

**Family:** Unknown

**Appearance:** Shaggy pitch black hair, pale skin, and amazing emerald green eyes. He has a nice build, and is far from scrawny.

**Clothing:** A button-up black/gray top, and very uncomfortable looking pants that are full of chains ( which hold weapons ), belts ( which hold scrolls ), and just... uncomfortable-looking-ness. VERY SEXY THOUGH.

**Guess What?:** On the first plot of the forums, Kagamori and Hana were supposed to be very close. They were on a team together, along with Akira ( mentioned in chapter 1 ). When Hana was abducted by the Akatsuki ( you see, on the forums, Hana had to five-tailed beast thinger ), which Ringo was apart of the Akatsuki at this time, Kagamori went after her. Kagamori got very jealous of Ringo when Hana was sitting nice and comfortably in Ringo's room. Hana then saved him from a flying boulder rather newbishly, and probably should have been killed by the impact, but of course, didn't. Their relationships was rather iffy through the rest of that plot, and he actually went on to be a crazy evil dude who ran the Akatsuki. When we started the plot over for a second time, he never showed up again. Nina did a wonderful job at creating a crazy evil guy though.


	8. We'll Fix It

**QUICK CREDITS:** Naruto and the original characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way. Aibara Okinawa belongs to midnight6606. Hana Uchiha belongs to me.

Don't Wither, Don't Wilt ... chapter 8 – We'll Fix It

**A/N:** The Second Test begins! This probably won't end up being the best day of their life.

**Note:** Nothing to note.

----on with the story. xxxxx!

_Ropes… around my arms… _The Uchiha opened her eyes in a daze, but no vision came to her. She thought she was staring at the ground, but she wasn't sure. _I… I can't feel the ground…_ She wasn't able to recall where she was, or where she had been. _Am I floating? Or flying? Drifting? I… Damn, my head really hurts… Concussion, maybe… I don't really care anymore… _Everything went blank. It felt like two minutes later that she was opening her eyes again. This time, she could see the dirt below her, and her feet dangling in the air. She stayed still for a few minutes, trying to remember everything.

Realization hit her like a bitch. She looked up quickly, and saw the rope that was holding her tied to the tree. _Shit._ Hana glanced down. She breathed heavily with relief as she saw her ankles were not tied, she could defend her self, if only a little. Wiggling her fingers was wonderful too. She could move her wrists freely and quickly tried to make a Tiger hand sign. Hana glanced up and smirked, looking for her capturers. There were three guys, older looking, sitting around a fire. They looked like idiots.

The three idiots looked up at the moment. The leader smirked wickedly, and got up, messing with a lock of his neon green hair. Hana stared at his hair for a moment, wondering why any human being would want to dye their hair that color.

"It looks like our prisoner is awake, hm?"

"No shit." Hana stared at him, looking very bored.

"You're not in any position to talk, girl," The neon-haired man pulled out a little dagger. Hana glanced behind her, and noticed her katana was gone. It was lying next to a gold-haired man in the back, who didn't seem too interested by Hana. She rolled her eyes back at Neon.

"I'm not going to stop talking because there's a little rope around me." This ticked Neon off, and his black haired friend next to him, "If you _wanted_ me to stop talking, you should have put some clothe around my mouth."

"Good idea. Kagone, get me a piece of clothe!" Neon yelled back to the golden-haired boy. Hana sighed with mock disappointment as Neon grabbed the piece of clothe and stepped closer to her. _Three… Two… One…_ Just as Neon moved the clothe around her mouth, she kicked out a leg and knocked him right in the groin, she also made a point to add a little chakra. The man stayed there for a split second, frozen, before he fell over on the ground, holding his crushed parts.

"Not like anyone would marry a green-haired freak," Hana shrugged and laughed a little. The man on the ground growled loudly in anger.

"Sora! Tie her ankles up, quick!" The black-haired man nodded and grabbed more rope, moving down to tie her ankles up. Hana struggled, but he got her. The man stood up now, and smirked.

"Now, we can have fun with you," The man named Sora laughed and smacked a hand on her butt. Hana raised a brow at him for a moment, and took a deep breath. There was a look of amusement on his face as she filled her lungs with oxygen, like he thought she liked this. Hana almost laughed when she made a collection of hand signs behind her back. A second later, Hana breathed out a mouthful of fire, right into the black-haired man's face.

"Shit! Sora watch out!" Neon yelled from the ground.

"SHIT. SHIT. MY FACE. MY HAIR." He fell on the ground, rolling around, and put the flame out. Hana laughed happily, seeing that the man was less than conscious.

Out of the blue, a man leaped down, throwing a kunai at both of the grounded men. Hana's eyes widened for a moment, and then she smiled, "Took you long enough! I thought you'd find me quicker with your Byakugan." She snickered as Ringo turned around, pointing a finger at her.

"At least I _have _Byakugan, Uchiha!" Ringo hissed as Aibara leaped down into the clearing and looked at the guy in the corner.

"Hey guys-"

"You don't even have Sharingon, you stupid little-"

"Guuuuys-"

"Ha! I don't need Sharingon. I took care of these guys just fine."

"You let him slap your ass."

"Jealous?"

"DAMNIT, GUYS, LISTEN!" Aibara shrieked. It echoed through the forest, just as everything went quiet. Ringo and Hana looked at her. She sighed, "What should we do with this hot guy over here?" She pointed at Kagone. Ringo glanced back and stepped towards Kagone, holding his hand out.

Kagone looked a little confused.

"Scroll?"

"Oh. Yeah uh, here," Kagone shuffled through his pockets and pulled out a Heaven scroll. Aibara squealed next to him, "But wait. I'll only give it to you if you promise not to hurt me."

Ringo rolled his eyes, "I probably will hurt you. No one touches Uchiha and gets away with it," He narrowed his eyes, and gestured his open hand again.

Kagone frowned, "But I didn't touch her, not once! I don't even like girls, seriously."

Ringo snorted, "Seriously?"

"Seriously. Promise?"

"Sure." Ringo snatched the scroll from his hand and punched Kagone square in the jaw. The golden-haired guy fell over, passed out. Hana snickered from behind.

"Remind me never to keep a promise with you," Hana laughed.

"Well, he was gay." Ringo's eye twitched. There was a moment of silence and Ringo sighed, moving over to Hana and pulling out a kunai knife, "Cut her down, would you?" He tossed the knife to Aibara, who went up on a branch and sliced the rope quickly. Ringo caught Hana by the waist and set her down gently, but continued to keep her steady with his hand. Aibara went about cutting off the remaining rope, and then stepped back. Ringo grabbed his knife and put it away, and stared down at Hana, "Can you walk?"

"I can't feel my legs…" Hana frowned and looked up at Ringo. The Hyuga raised his eyebrows for a moment. Exhaustion was written all over her face.

"That answers it then," Ringo sighed and scooped Hana up into his arms. Hana squirmed around with a weird look on her face.

"No, hey, I'll be fine in a few minutes," Hana protested.

Ringo rolled his pale eyes, "We don't have a few minutes. The way Aibara screamed a while back, there's probably a team coming after us already," Hana glanced at Aibara, who seemed to shrink back a bit, and calmed down, "Anyways, you don't look like you could walk the remaining seven kilometers back to the tower," He grinned a bit. Aibara smiled too. Hana just blinked once and rested her head against Ringo, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, let's just get out of here," Hana yawned once and closed her eyes.

Ringo made a face quick and grunted once, "Hey, don't you fall asleep on me! Er-…" Hana had managed to fall asleep within five seconds. A new record. Ringo shook her gently, but Aibara stopped him.

"Let her sleep," She whispered loudly, "She's been walking around ever since noon, and when she wasn't walking, she was hanging from a _tree_." Ringo stared at Hana for a bit, and nodded.

"Let's move out."

.xx

.xxx

"Wait, wait, wait," He had been going on like this for about ten minutes now. The waitress crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the blond man, "Wait, wait, _wait_, wait… wait! So… you're saying Sasuke was _already here_!?" He slammed both hands on the table and leaned forward so that he was inches away from waitress.

"Yes, Naruto," Sakura answered for the waitress and yanked him back by the collar of his jumpsuit, "He was already here," Her green eyes were narrowed with mild frustration, "With a girl, a _pretty_ girl by the sounds of it, and he left, with the _pretty_ girl," She let go of Naruto, who quickly pulled away from the unhappy Sakura.

A pale boy next to her opened up his squinted eyes, "Is this jealousy I am picking up?"

"Probably," Naruto mumbled quietly.

Sakura whipped around on them, "Shut it, Sai!" Then moved on to grab Naruto by the collar of his jumpsuit again, yanking him close, "And I am _not_ jealous of some _girl_ that's been tagging along with Sasuke! NO! Why would you assume such a _stupid_ thing!?" The pinkette barked in his face. Naruto went wide-eyed and gulped.

"I-i-i-i didn't assume anything, honestly!"

"Yeah, right!" Sakura yelled and threw him into the ground, before turning away and crossing her arms. Yamato blinked helplessly beside the group and sighed.

"I guess we should go look for him," Yamato sighed and turned to the waitress, who seemed to be getting impatient, "Do you know which way this man went?" He dug into his pockets and pulled out a wad of cash. The waitress's ice blue eyes widened, and she snatched the money up.

"East," She said quickly, "He went east. They were talking about Konohagakure, to be exact." The waitress smiled.

Yamato nodded, "Thank you," He turned around to his new team and looked at Naruto's and Sakura's faces. They were full of joy and hope. Biting his bottom lip, he suppressed a sigh; he just hoped that their happiness wouldn't be crushed in the long run, "Let's go."

.xx

.xxx

"We're almost there," Ringo whispered, and shot a hopeful smile towards Aibara. She looked dead on her feet honestly. They had been walking all night, and Aibara had only gotten a good three hour sleep in his arms. Hana had tried walking for a little bit, but they feared she had gotten some sort of concussion, so they let her rest again, "You mind getting the Earth scroll out of my pouch?" He shrugged behind him. Aibara made a face.

"I'm not touching your butt-pouch," She said with a sneer of her lip. Ringo rolled his eyes.

"Please? Unless you want me to drop Hana on the ground."

"Okay, fine," Aibara mumbled and unzipped his pouch. She looked in it for a moment, but couldn't see anything that looked like a scroll, "Uh, are you sure it's in your butt-pouch? All I see is kunai's, and this one scroll for Byakugan shit."

Ringo stopped quickly, making Aibara bump into his back, "What? It has to be in there. I didn't put it in my leg holster," Aibara stayed quiet for a few moments.

"It-It's not in there," Aibara murmured in a rather horrified voice.

Ringo glanced around for a moment, and rested Hana on the ground quickly. He turned around and felt for the scroll, but Aibara was right. A line of cuss words ran from his mouth as he checked his pockets, his shirt, his holsters, and then checked Hana's holsters over quickly. When Aibara finally came up empty, he fell to the ground next to the sleeping Hana, "Shit. Fuck. God fucking damnit," He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed, "We're screwed. That's it. We're so fucking screwed." He laughed nervously and fell quiet. Hana stirred next to him.

"What's up? Why'd we stop," She rolled over and stared at Ringo, who seemed completely shocked. Hana blinked her eyes awake and sat up, "What happened?

Aibara frowned and shook her head, "The Earth scroll is gone…"

"The Earth scroll…? What!? How, what happened? When did this happen?" Hana got up on her knees and stared at Ringo in utter surprise. The Hyuga just shook his head, and kept his gaze down.

"The last time I had it was back in the stone cave. I set it on the ground alongside my pouch, and, I must have forgotten it. And it wasn't there when we got back… So…" He felt something hit his shoulder, and he flinched. Hana was hitting him repeatedly, but he guessed he deserved it. She stopped after a bit, and slumped over.

"It's your fault," She growled in a low voice.

"I know," Ringo whispered. Everything went still for a long moment before finally he sighed, "I'll fix it, I promise." Hana didn't answer, and Aibara seemed to be standing off to the side, "Look, there are tons of teams coming in with both scrolls. We'll catch them then." He stood up, staring down at Hana.

"Yeah, Hana-chan, he's right," Aibara spoke quietly.

Hana stayed still for a while longer before standing up as well. There was a fierce look in her eyes, as if she were ready to kill, or just beat up Ringo. She sighed, "We'll fix it, Ringo," She spat angrily and glanced at him, "You're not holding the scrolls anymore. Aibara can keep the Heaven scroll. Let's go snag us an Earth scroll, hm?"

"Sounds good to me," Ringo said tiredly, "Can we rest first, though? I've been walking all night, it's nearly morning."

"You two can rest after we set up some traps. Now let's _move_." All exhaustion seemed to be gone from Hana, but she moved forward feeling incredibly dizzy, and watching the world blur out around her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

**QUICK BIO:** Takako

**Birthday:** August 5

**Element:** Wind

**Family:** Unknown

**Appearance:** Red-brown hair pulled into curls, along with bangs that curve around her face. Brown eyes. Big boobs.

**Clothing:** A red scarf, black sweatshirt, and red pants.

**Guess What?:** Takako was one of the characters that was completely changed. The only thing the same is her name, honestly. On the forums, she was a little shy girl who liked owls. She used to live in Suna where she chased after Gaara's son for a good portion of her life. Takako had brown hair, no chest, and no life – unlike THIS Takako, who happens to be living a great life, being sassy and big-chested.


	9. Team Modifications

**QUICK CREDITS:** Naruto and the original characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Ringo Hyuga belongs to Sunsetfire of Shinobi Way. Aibara Okinawa belongs to midnight6606. Kagamori belongs to Nina. Hana Uchiha, Takako, and Hikaru belong to me.

Don't Wither, Don't Wilt ... chapter 9 – Team Modifications

**A/N:** The Second Test continues with only three days left!

**Note:** Nothing to note.

-on with the story. xxxxx!

"Are we done now?" Ringo said in a slow, tired voice. The sun was just managing to peak through the trees. In this lighting, it looked like it was only five in the morning – but with these trees, it could have been closer to noon for all they knew. Ringo didn't bother to wait for Hana's answer, and sat down, throwing some of his gear to the side. Aibara looked exhausted too. Hana glanced between the two of them.

"Yeah, we'll check the traps in a few hours. You can sleep, I'll keep watch," Hana murmured quietly. Ringo let out a sigh of relief, and fell over on his back. Aibara and Hana looked at him for a few seconds, and were surprised to see he was already asleep.

Aibara shifted to lie down too, but took her time, "You know, it could've happened to any one of us," She glanced up at her friend, who had her arms crossed, looking very serious. Aibara had only seen pictures of Hana's brother, but somehow she could see the resemblance here. The Uchiha wore cold eyes; those eyes looked like they didn't care, like they were angry, like they were determined. It was a scary look. Hana merely shrugged to let Aibara know she was listening. Aibara paused for a long moment before speaking again, "I woke him up quickly, and he was really worried about you… If it had been me, I probably would have been like that too. You didn't have to be so… so…"

"How am I supposed to react to that?" Hana said briskly, "Pretend you're on a mission. You've been given top secret information. You lost that information; it's gone," Aibara frowned and stared at the ground, "You can't just shrug it off. This is _real life_, Aibara. There is no 'maybe next year' anymore. … What if his mistake is the difference between us getting out of here alive or not? What if one of us dies trying to get another scroll? Those guys back there, we were lucky! We _are_ intimidating. A Hyuga, Uchiha, and weapon wielder prodigy on one team, that's something not a lot of people want to face. But we aren't the strongest team out there. And do you know why?" Hana glanced at her friend, who seemed very quiet, "Because we don't _kill._ You, me, even Ringo, we've never killed a person before. Those guys earlier, Ringo didn't shoot to kill. … Those other teams, they will kill us without a second thought."

It was quiet for a long moment after that. Aibara knew that Hana was right. She nodded slowly after a while, and lied down to go to sleep. After that nice pep talk though, she didn't think she'd ever sleep. Exhaustion was a funny thing though. It could shut you down any time it wanted to. Hana must have thought she was asleep though, because after a few minutes, she moved over next to Ringo. She saw her move him into a comfier position, and move his head onto her lap; she was letting him use her lap as a pillow. Aibara would've liked to say that if she didn't already have a backpack for a pillow, that Hana would've done the same for her, but she had to stop kidding with herself.

.xx

.xxx

"I had to say, I didn't think a _bear trap_ would have worked," Ringo snickered, and crossed his arms. His pale eyes gleamed with amusement as he stared at the woman before him, whose ankle was clamped tight within a giant bear trap. Blood covered the forest floor where it had dripped from the wound, and the girl seemed in pain. Aibara, who had set the trap, didn't seem all to thrilled by the blood. Hana on the other hand, seemed to be off in her cold state as she stared at the captured woman, "Brilliant, Aibara-san, brilliant," He chuckled and stepped forward to the woman, who seemed to cringe.

"I-I don't have a scroll with me! My teammates have it!" The woman cried out. Ringo could smell the fear rolling off her. Laughing darkly, he glanced back at Hana who didn't seem impressed at all.

"Go ahead and check her over, Uchiha."

Hana stepped forward and patted the woman up and down, after rummaging through her things; she picked up a Heaven scroll. She cussed under her breath, and showed the scroll to her friends. Ringo narrowed his eyes, and Aibara frowned. Hana sighed and put the scroll away before picking through her belongings. The woman had some useful stuff, like extra bandages and some paper bombs, "So, where is the rest of your team located?" Hana said in a cool voice.

"I'm not telling you."

Hana stared at her for a moment longer before bringing her hand up. Slowly she moved it back to rest on her hilt. The girl's eyes widened. Hana pulled Hissori Ryuu and brought it to rest against the woman's neck, "Are you sure?" The girl gulped loudly and closed her eyes.

"They're by the river, about fifteen minutes from here! Please let me go!"

Quickly, Hana whipped the katana around and hit the girl on the head with the hilt of her katana. The sound was sickening, and the action surprised Ringo and Aibara. The girl crumpled to the ground and Hana sheathed her katana again, "Ringo, do you mind taking care of those guys then?"

Ringo smirked, "Gladly."

"If you're not back in an hour, me and Aibara will come looking for you."

"And what do you two plan on doing?" Ringo narrowed his eyes.

Aibara's stomach growled at that second. Hana shrugged, "Get breakfast, I guess. " Ringo nodded, and left.

.xx

.xxx

Ringo returned a half hour later to find Aibara munching on some berries, and Hana holding her head. He frowned, "You okay?" Hana jumped, like she hadn't noticed him. She must not be feeling good if she didn't notice him.

"Oh uh," Hana stopped rubbing her head and grabbed some berries, "Yeah, just a headache," Ringo nodded and sat down next to her.

He grabbed a few berries and looked at them, "These aren't poisonous, right?"

"They're raspberries, just shut up and eat them," Hana mumbled and grabbed some more, "Did you find those guys?" Ringo nodded, and pulled out a bag.

"No Earth Scroll, but they had another Heaven scroll. They had water, food, and a map of the area," He went over the things in the backpack, and munched on a few more berries. Hana nodded.

"Good. You can keep the Heaven scroll you found. We should be good, if we can just get a damned Earth Scroll," Suddenly the bushes rustled behind them, and Hana took action out of pure instinct. Grabbing a nearby kunai knife, she flew it into the bushes where the sound came from. There was a little yelp, and out fell Hikaru. Blinking her silver eyes, she stood up, "Hikaru? What are you doing here?"

Hikaru chuckled a bit, and sat up on his knees, dusting himself of dirt, "Just dropping in," He snickered and smiled at Hana, "You got a Heaven scroll then?"

Hana nodded, but didn't go into detail on how many they had, "Just need an Earth scroll now," She murmured, sparing Ringo the humiliation for the moment. The bushes rustled again a few moments later, and Kagamori and Takako appeared from the bushes as well, "How about you guys?"

Takako narrowed her eyes at the Uchiha, "Don't you seem relaxed. Shouldn't you be making sure we won't attack you?" She said in her normal angry tone. Hana merely smiled and shrugged, "After all, you have the scroll we need."

Hana laughed slightly, "And you have the scroll we need, then," She countered. Kagamori stepped up and put a hand on Takako's shoulder.

"No worries. We wouldn't attack our own friends for information," Kagamori struck a handsome smile.

Ringo rolled his eyes, "Friends, huh?" He muttered and grabbed some more berries, "Why are you here?"

Hikaru jumped up quickly, and leapt towards Hana to wrap his arms around her affectionately, "To say hi to Hana-chan of course!" He rubbed his cheek against Hana's, and Hana hugged him back. Ringo narrowed his eyes.

"Actually," Kagamori started, "We heard that the 'Hyuga's Team' had extra Heaven scrolls. You guys still need an Earth scroll right? Well we have an offer for you." Ringo raised a brow and crossed his arms.

"Shoot," He said simply. Kagamori nodded.

"How about, if we help you get an Earth scroll, you give us your extra Heaven scroll?"

Hana glanced at Aibara and Ringo, "That sounds like a good plan."

Ringo shook his head, "What if, we give you the Heaven scroll at the gates?"

"What would it matter if we travelled together? The chances of us loosing a scroll is slim if we have a group of six," Kagamori countered sternly.

Ringo frowned, "I don't like the sound of that…"

"It's a deal." Hana spoke up from where she sat in Hikaru's arms.

Ringo glanced at her quickly, "Since when do you decide everything?" He growled at the Uchiha. Hana narrowed her eyes.

"Since you lost our Earth scroll," They stared at each other for a moment, "We need help. I don't know how well I'm going to fight if we get attacked…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ringo said, and Hikaru echoed him.

"It means, that when those guys attacked me, I think they knocked me across the head pretty good," Hana murmured quietly, "I've been dizzy constantly, I've been getting the worst headaches; it's starting to spell concussion if you ask me."

"Why didn't you tell us, Hana-chan?" Aibara murmured.

"Sorry guys, I didn't know what to do," Hana sighed.

Ringo rolled his eyes again, and sighed, "Okay, whatever. Let's just go get some scrolls and get out of here," The Hyuga muttered and stood up, getting things packed.

Kagamori glanced around and sat down on the other side of Hikaru and Hana, "How about we all eat, and then lie down? Hikaru and Takako have been up for a while now, and I just woke up, so I can watch."

Hana sighed in mild relief, "That sounds really nice, I've been up since early this morning. I'm ready for some sleepy."

"Maybe one of us should stay up and watch too," Ringo said cautiously, sending a glare at Kagamori, "We can't trust them."

"Yes, we can," Hana said simply, "If you're so worried, you can stay up. I don't really give a crap right now." Ringo snorted at the Uchiha's words. Boy, was she pissy.

Within the next few minutes, everyone except Kagamori and Ringo had fallen asleep. Hana had curled up a few feet away from him, alongside Aibara. Meanwhile, Hikaru and Takako had found a comfy position off by Kagamori. Ringo sat in the middle of their clearing next to Kagamori. The pale glanced over at him after a few minutes, "You can trust me, honestly," He said quietly in his smooth voice. Ringo snorted, but didn't reply further then that, "We're both from the same village, right?"

"Since when does that mean anything? Everyone is pinned against each other in this forest, it doesn't matter if they're from the same village," Ringo muttered, sending his pale glare back Kagamori. In return, Kagamori shrugged.

"Suit yourself," Kagamori spoke softly, "If I were you, I'd rest while I had the chance. It's going to be a long night, and if you're not at the top of your game, some of us might die," The two boys fell quiet after that. Off in the distance, they could hear a man screaming, and the cry of some unknown beast; they had been living with these sounds haunting them for the past two days. Death was a nightmare that hung over the heads of each participant. Kagamori was right, "Do you really want to have the guilt of knowing you let one of your teammates die, just because you were too stubborn to rest?" Ringo's gaze slid over to Hana and Aibara. The two had managed to curl up closer to each other in a short amount of time. He couldn't bear the thought of either one of them disappearing forever, and sighed.

"Yeah, you're right," Ringo muttered, and moved over next to Hana and Aibara. He lied down next to Hana, and moved his arm around both her and Aibara. Within a few minutes, he fell into a state between deep sleep, and consciousness. Ringo had never been a light sleeper, but he'd just have to try it out for one night.

.xx

.xxx

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Hikaru muttered as he and Hana walked through the forest. The two teams had split up into tiny groups to find some easy prey for scroll hunting; Ringo and Aibara had become a group, same as Kagamori and Takako. They had been walking around for an hour now, and they had come across not one living human. He wasn't necessarily complaining though.

Hikaru couldn't remember the last time he and Hana had spent any amount of time alone. Ever since his best friend had graduated from the Academy, she had been around her team constantly. He didn't blame her – after disappearing out of her life for an entire year, he was probably not that reliable in her eyes, and she had always been the clingy type. Now he had some time alone with Hana, and he was incredibly happy.

"We have a lot of forest to cover, and we still have about two more hours before we meet back up," Hana murmured quietly beside him, "Plus, with the others searching too, someone will find something," She smiled confidently up at Hikaru, he nodded in return.

"You're right," He smiled. The two friends were rather quiet for the rest of their search, but Hikaru kept finding himself looking at Hana. Hikaru noticed how grown-up she was starting to look; she had always been cute, but Hikaru had never found her beautiful until he had started visiting her again. He bit his lip. Hikaru had liked Hana ever since they were toddlers. Hana, their Uchiha friend Hayato, and himself would always play together. Hikaru would hug Hana everyday before he went home, but Hayato always said that she was his and that they were going to get married one day. They were only five, and the memories still made them laugh to this day.

Hikaru thought for a while that he had gotten over his childhood crush, but it was hard to believe a lie.

.xx

.xxx

"Rookies, eh?" Ringo leaned forward from where he sat back at camp. Hana grabbed Ringo's bag and pulled out the map they had obtained from the last group they had ambushed. After unrolling it on her and Kagamori's lap, she glanced at him. From here, Ringo could tell she was pretty excited about Kagamori's and Takako's find.

"Where were they on the map?" She said in a quiet voice.

Kagamori nodded and pointed to a point in the map, "So, this is where we are, you see?" He circled the area briefly before sweeping his finger to a position further away, "About two kilometers away is a group of rookies from the Village Hidden in the Mist. They are very skilled, and very smart," Takako snorted next to him.

"Well, obviously!" The big-chested girl threw up her arms before placing them on their hips, "They placed their camp in the middle of a field. Every team sees them, yeah, but they can see every attack coming from every direction! It's genius!"

Aibara clapped her hands together in an excited manner, "But two teams against one is bad odds!" She smiled happily and jumped a little in her seat. Hana and Ringo laughed out of amusement. Aibara was funny when she got excited, "But, do they have the scrolls we need?" Kagamori smiled and nodded, making the white-haired girl blush.

"There are two girls and a boy on the team. The two girls are the strongest from what I've been able to pick up," Kagamori went on to explain, "One of the girls is always staying back, like they don't believe the boy can take care of himself. That probably means that the boy is exhausted most of the time, and doesn't get as much rest as the others except when some else is at camp. Now about the scrolls,"

"We think they have three. Two Earth scrolls and a Heaven scroll," Takako picked this up, "I had my owls fly out there. One girl holds the Earth scroll and the other girl holds the Heaven scroll. The boy holds an extra Earth scroll, and they just obtained the scroll when we were leaving."

Ringo stood up, "Then we have to move quick, before they get to the tower."

Kagamori nodded and moved his finger across the map one last time, "Last time we saw them, they were leaving in this direction."

Hana took the map and rolled it up quickly, throwing it back in the bag, "Okay, let's go," She went around and packed the few things she had out, and handed a food pill to everyone, "Lead the way, Kagamori."

-x

**QUICK BIO:** Akeko Niigata

**Birthday:** October 18

**Element:** Earth

**Family:** Unknown relative ( Will be revealed later. )

**Appearance:** Very unattractive. Sickly pale skin and greasy jet black hair.

**Clothing:** Normal Shinobi wear.

**Guess What?:** Niigata was made purely for this fanfiction. She never once showed up on any of the forums. Even though I planned on having Niigata be a worthless side character, but she has become very fun to draw in my sketchbook. Usually I portray her pissed off with her middle finger flying high.


End file.
